Justice isn't Blind
by Scotchtape27
Summary: Nor is it absolute; there is always an exception. Throughout his career Naruto has always had a problem with the Absolute Justice of the Marines, and he has always followed his own moral code. And right now it's telling him to help a certain pirate crew.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Well, here goes nothing. This is the first fanfic I've ever written so any and all constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. I'm not too sure about what the update speed is going to be but I should hopefully have something out by sometime next month. Now, without further ado.  
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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece<p>

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><p>A well-built muscular man stood looking through his telescope on the top of a marine vessel that bore a large bull-dog with a spiked collar and holding a bone as its figurehead, staring intently at a small island in the distance. He wore a black double-breasted suit with a white dress shirt underneath and a red tie. Over top of his suit he wore a large marine jacket with red and black epaulets draped over his shoulders like a cape. His short black hair spiked wildly off of his head sticking up into the air, and his sideburns were beginning to gray. He had a well defined jaw masked behind his black goatee and bore a scar on his face near his left eye, the stitches used to close it still visible.<br>"Are you sure that they're on that island?" he questioned the marine standing next to him taking his eyes off of the island and gazing at his subordinate.

"Yes sir!" he responded loudly, "The pirates were seen docking their boat at the harbor not too long ago." The man returned his attention to the island his eyes widening as he saw smoke rising from its lone village which was bathed in an orange glow.

He quickly closed the telescope handing it back to the officer, his blue eyes hardened as he turned and began walking towards his quarters to prepare for battle, "Hurry up and get us over there now, you know just as well as I do how ruthless these pirates are."

"Yes sir!"

Fires raged throughout the small village of Konoha as it was ransacked by pirates, stealing everything in sight. Blood drenched the ground and the smell of death permeated the air as dead bodies lay strewn all over the once happy town. Men were beaten and tortured as they watched their wives being violated before the eyes of their children who would be killed soon after followed shortly by their parents. Cries of sobbing children rang out through the village as they wept over the dead bodies of their parents, generally followed by the din of gunfire, quickly silencing their anguished screams. The man stepped onto the island and his ears were immediately assaulted by the pleas for help from those that had still survived, a deep scowl quickly formed on his face and his anger was easily noticed by his men who were feeling the same way.

"Go!" he shouted tossing his right arm forward as he ordered his men, "Save as many as you can and leave no pirates alive, we're taking no prisoners!"

"Yes sir!" the marines chorused as they rushed into the small village intent on ending this massacre while some people were hopefully still alive. Gunfire sounded around the village as the marines did battle, their anger growing at every dead body discovered, at this rate it looked as though the whole village had been killed. Their commander walked through the village paying no heed to the shots fired around him, every so often a pirate brave enough, or stupid enough, would get in his way only to be sent flying by an incredibly powerful punch instantly killing them. He looked up and saw a small cottage in the distance that had caught fire, he quickened his pace hoping to find at least one person who had survived this massacre.

A woman with ankle-length red hair leaned against the wall of her home blood slowly trickling out of her mouth and her other wounds pooling around her body. She wore a high-collared, sleeveless dress that was torn and ripped in multiple places with an apron over it that had been ripped as well. Her feet were clad in an odd type of sandal and shoe hybrid covering most of her foot but leaving her toes and heel uncovered. In her arms she held an infant, her child, wrapped in a blanket that had become stained with her blood as she fought tooth and nail to protect her child from harm. Around her lay the bodies of at least fifteen pirates she had killed to protect her son who was now crying loudly. "It's alright Naruto," she whispered to her child in a rasping voice as she looked down on him, finding that it was becoming harder and harder to find the strength to breathe, "mommy's here, I won't let anything bad happen to you." She soon noticed that her body was covered in shadow and her head snapped up in surprise at being caught unaware, fearing for her son's safety. Her tensed muscles immediately relaxed as she realized that it was a marine, but not just any marine, it was Garp the Fist, Hero of the Marines, and one of the only people capable of going toe-to-toe with Gol D. Roger the Pirate King himself. Garp knelt down in front of her and was moving to pick her up when she shook her head. "It's too late for me," she rasped, now wheezing with every breath she took, "I beg you, please take care of my son."

Garp gazed solemnly into her eyes, her violet-blue orbs staring right back into his light blue ones. "I will," he nodded, "what is his name?"

"Naruto D. Newgate," she replied Garp's eyes widening imperceptibly as she handed her child to him, "and take this," she stated as she struggled to remove her necklace, once she finally had she placed it into Garp's open palm. It was a white gold necklace that bore a circular silver pendant that bore a red swirl, "it's an Uzumaki heirloom that has been passed down from generation to generation to the first-born of the family." She gazed up at the man as her vision began to blur and her body grew cold, "Please," she begged, "turn my boy into a man that can be respected, no matter what he does...and tell him...I loved him." she finished as she exhaled her last breath her head tilting forwards as her eyes closed for the last time a contented smile on her face in the knowledge that her one and only child would live.

Garp stood up, his new charge in his arms as he looked down solemnly upon the body of his mother and drank in the scene of her body surrounded by those of the dead pirates. Years later he would tell the story of her death to Naruto, of her love, her protection, and her refusal to die until she was certain that her child would be safe. As Garp walked back towards the village it began to rain, and as the heavens mourned the loss of a great woman his only thought was, "What have I gotten myself into?"

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><p><strong>(5 years later)<strong>

"Oh Shit!" Naruto thought as he ran away from his crazed caretaker, weaving back and forth between the trees as he sprinted through the vegetation. The boy was extremely tall for a five year old, having already passed four feet in height a long time ago. He wore a black and orange tee-shirt, black shorts and black shoes. His blonde hair stuck up into the air wildly seemingly defying the laws of gravity. Naruto screamed in terror as the tree next to him was shattered by a cannonball his blue eyes widening in disbelief, "Is that crazy old man trying to kill me!" he screeched running at speeds he would've never imagined he was capable of.

"Bwahahaha!" Garp laughed uproariously as he chased after his young charge, a cannonball carried in his left hand. He shifted the cannonball to his right hand and shouted, "Fist Meteorite!" before pulling back and throwing the cannonball as if it were a baseball, his laughter grew even louder when his young charge let out another frightened yelp when it landed no more than 5 inches away from Naruto.

"Stop trying to kill me you crazy old man!" Naruto screamed back at Garp in response to the man's laughter, not paying attention to where he was going and running right into someone sending them both tumbling. Naruto eventually came to a stop sprawled across the ground. He quickly got back to his feet and was about to start running when he noticed four men standing around him glaring as the other man got back to his feet.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing punk! Do you know who we are?"

"Hehehe," Naruto chuckled sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck, "uhh...no." His response just angered the five men even more.

"Boss can I just kill this brat?" one said as he pulled out a gun, cocked it, and pointed it straight at Naruto's head. Naruto's eyes widened for an instant before his gaze imperceptibly hardened and his muscles tensed in preparation for a fight.

"Sure, mak..." his voice trailed off as his jaw hung open in shock at seeing his crew mate get sent flying by one of Naruto's punches. Naruto rushed over to the nearest man punching him in the gut before he could pull out his weapon. He bent over in pain and was hit in the face by a roundhouse kick sending him sprawling on the ground out cold. By this point the other men had managed to pull out their swords and charged Naruto. He ducked under one slash and delivered a jarring blow to the man's jaw, the force strong enough to spin him around before falling to the ground. Naruto dove out of the way of one man's lunge causing him to impale the man that had been trying to get Naruto from behind leaving the captain and the man who had just recovered from a blow to the jaw as the only ones left.

Naruto took up a stance across from them his feet planted firmly on the ground as he made a "come on" gesture with his right hand. Both men charged at the same time wildly slashing at Naruto, he ducked under the first slash and spun around the captain's attack leaving him behind the two men. He jumped in the air and spun quickly delivering a devastating kick to the back of a man's neck knocking him out and sending him tumbling across the ground. The captain turned to face Naruto unleashing a flurry of slashes at the boy, Naruto ducked and weaved around the blows, slowly inching closer to the man. Once he was in range Naruto knocked the mans arm out away from his body interrupting his slash and leaving his body wide open. Naruto rained punches down on the man's torso his fists beginning to blur slightly before he jumped into the air delivering an airborne uppercut to the man's jaw sending him into the air. As the man began falling towards the ground head first Naruto pulled back his left fist before launching a punch that caught the man directly in the jaw before he hit the ground. There was a loud crack signalling that Naruto had at least fractured the man's jaw before he was sent flying away from the boy landing roughly on the ground unconscious.

Naruto sighed deeply and wiped the sweat from his forehead as he tried to get his breathing under control. It was just then that Garp had entered the clearing, he took one moment to examine his surroundings before bursting out laughing, affectionately ruffling Naruto's hair earning a glare from the young blonde.

"Wahahaha!" Garp laughed out, still ruffling Naruto's hair despite his protests, "As expected of my grandson! You know what? Since you're obviously..." Garp trailed off and a light snore could be heard coming from the man. Naruto looked up to see a large bubble coming from the man's nose telling him that Garp had fallen asleep. Naruto screamed in annoyance as he jumped and kicked Garp in the chest knocking him over and causing Garp to wake up. He immediately stood up and punched Naruto on top of the head, afterwards grabbing the front of his shirt and bringing him up to eye level. "What the hell was that for brat!"

"You fell asleep in the middle of talking!" Naruto screamed in reply. Garp looked embarrassed and sheepishly scratched his cheek as he set Naruto on the ground.

"Anyway," he said changing the topic," what was I talking about?"

"You said 'As expected of my grandson! You know what? Since you're obviously...' after seeing the guys I had taken out."

"Right, as I was saying, since you're obviously strong enough I've decided to let you join the Marines like you wanted."

"Seriously?" Naruto asked his eyes gleaming in excitement with a huge grin on his face, Garp merely nodded in response a similar grin on his face. Naruto jumped onto Garp and wrapped his arms and legs around the man in a large hug, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" he screamed in joy, Garp's grin only grew wider as he hugged his adopted grandson simply enjoying spending time with the boy.

"And," Garp added, "You'll be serving under me to help you get acquainted with the Marines before you're ready to stand on your own two feet."

"Hell no!" Naruto screamed in reply, "I've had to deal with enough of your hellish training as is! I'll get stronger my own way!"

Garp looked down on the boy he held in his arms, already proud of the man he was turning into, "Fine, if you want to be more independent who am I to stop you? However, if I find out that you've been slacking on training without me around the training I'll give you will make everything you've done so far look like a walk in the park." A chill went down Naruto's spine at the threat and he merely nodded in response not trusting his voice at the moment because of his fear. "Good, I'll bring you back to Marine HQ with me when my vacation is over in the next couple of days, now let's go back home I think you've had enough training for today." Garp pried Naruto off of him and set his surrogate grandson on the ground, both beginning the long trek back to their house.

"Holy Shit!" Naruto screamed his head tilted back completely as he stood gaping in front of the large fortress, "It's fucking huge!"

"Hurry up brat," Garp said as he shoved Naruto in the back sending him stumbling forwards causing him to almost lose grip on the pack he had slung over his shoulder, "we don't have all day."

"Hey!" he screamed angrily at his surrogate grandfather, "this is my first time ever going anywhere outside of the village back home, just give me a couple seconds to take it all in okay!" Garp merely grinned while he affectionately ruffled the boy's hair, only serving to anger him even more.

"Let's go brat, I'd like to have you drafted and assigned to an instructor by the end of the day." With that being said Garp removed his hand from Naruto's head and began walking through the gates of Marineford into the giant fortress. Naruto followed closely behind grumbling under his breath about crazy old men.

After a few minutes of walking down the large corridors of the fortress they entered a large room with a high ceiling. To the right of the entrance there were a multitude of ropes to direct the flow of people to the multiple desks located near the wall similar to the set up of a bank. Directly in front of the entrance there was a large open area littered with benches to provide a sitting area for those waiting on people in line to register. The room was filled with a large amount of people, the lines of those waiting to register were well past the end of the ropes and there were barely enough benches to seat everyone. Naruto's gaze dropped to the floor in exasperation at how long this was going to take failing to notice the lone desk next to the others that had no line whatsoever. "Hurry up brat," Garp said as he shoved Naruto in the direction of the lone desk, "let's get this over with quickly so I can get some donuts."

"Quickly?" Naruto questioned, "Have you seen the lines? It's going to take forever!" Hearing no reply Naruto looked up to see Garp with a blank expression on his face pointing over Naruto's shoulder. He turned and followed Garp's gesture finally seeing the desk the man was indicating. "Oh, hehehe," Naruto chuckled sheepishly while he scratched the back of his head, "I guess I didn't see that earlier. Why do they have that desk if no one uses it anyways?"

"Simple, it's to speed up the process for anyone who's joining the marines that's backed by, or related to, an officer of Commodore rank or above. Since they generally accompany their relatives it helps to keep objects from being thrown across the room in frustration and helps keep us sane as well. Now hurry up so I can go get those donuts."  
>"Screw donuts old man! When this is over we're getting ramen!" Naruto yelled excitedly as he sprinted towards the desk before his surrogate grandfather could punch him, or do anything else in retaliation.<p>

"Rrrggh," Garp growled with his eyes narrowed while he shook his fist angrily at Naruto, "We're getting donuts you brat! How can you even like that ramen crap anyways?"

Naruto froze mid-stride and turned to face Garp. His eyes alight with flame as he glared back at the man, "Don't you dare say the name of ramen in vain!" he screeched pointing his finger at the man accusingly. Garp walked towards Naruto and delivered a brutal blow to the top of his head with his fist before he picked him up by the back of his shirt and tossed him towards the desk.

Naruto landed hard on the ground and rolled a couple of feet before finally coming to a stop right in front of the desk. He quickly stood up and looked around, embarrassed that his surrogate grandfather had just thrown him across the room. Luckily it seemed that no one had noticed the embarrassing incident, that is until Naruto heard someone clear their throat behind him in an attempt to gain his attention.

"Ahem," an older woman, probably in her mid-to-late-fifties said, "do you plan on getting registered or just looking around the room like a buffoon?"

"Hehe," Naruto nervously chuckled as he turned around and faced her, "Sorry about that, I would like to enlist in the marines."

"Which officer is your sponsor?"

"Garp the Fist." Naruto responded, not noticing the woman's eyes widening in surprise.

"Garp the Fist?" Naruto nodded in response, "Well, it's not everyday we get a new recruit that's sponsored by a Vice-Admiral, here fill out this sheet," she said handing him a form, a clipboard, and a pen, "and return to me when you're finished."

Naruto nodded in affirmation and strode off in an attempt to find a place to sit down. Naruto spotted Garp off to his right sitting on a bench with an open space next to him so he walked over and sat down next to his surrogate grandfather. Naruto began filling out the form answering all questions truthfully aside from his name which he listed as Naruto D. Uzumaki. After about twenty minutes Naruto had completed the form and returned to the old lady.

"Here you go." Naruto said handing her the form. She grabbed the form and quickly glanced over it making sure everything had been properly filled out, everything seemed normal until she looked at the boys age.

"It says here that you're only five years old, surely that's not true?"

"Well, if you want to get specific I'm technically somewhere around five and a half give or take a few days." Her eyes became the size of dinner plates.

"B-But you're at least 4'10" tall! How in the world are you only five years old?" Naruto gave an embarrassed grin as he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck.

"I'm kinda tall for my age, although it's no surprise give who my father is, he was huge, or at least that's what Garp told me." The woman merely stared at him for a few moments trying to determine whether or not he was telling the truth, unintentionally making Naruto more uncomfortable. Eventually she just shrugged, she couldn't tell if he was lying and honestly she didn't really care.

"Here's your room assignment and the instructor who will be teaching you at the naval academy. You are to report to him and give him your assignment form before going to your room. Good luck." Naruto took the forms with his assignments on them and nodded in thanks to the woman before turning around and heading off to find Garp. He hoped they'd get ramen instead of donuts since this could very likely be the last time he ate with his grandfather for a long time.

As time passed Naruto quickly became the star student of his class, despite his abysmal grades on written exams, dominating everyone else in any combat practice or anything that involved physical activity. Because of his high skill Naruto was allowed to graduate early from the academy, graduating in one year rather than the usual three. While not unheard of it was still rather uncommon, especially considering the one who had graduated was a six year old.  
>He had grown even taller over the year, measuring in at a startling 5'1". The wind blew his wild blonde hair about as he stood atop a building staring intently at the ocean waiting for the ride to his next assignment. He was currently wearing an unzipped, black track jacket with two orange stripes down the sleeves and a black tee-shirt underneath it. The Uzumaki heirloom pendant hung down around his neck resting on top of his shirt. He wore black cargo pants and had a katana sheathed on the left side of his hip. He was wearing black sneakers with an orange, grinning kitsune on their side as well as two orange stripes on their heel.<p>

Spotting a ship approaching on the horizon Naruto leapt off his perch landing silently on the ground and began walking off towards the port at a leisurely pace. By the time he had arrived at the port the ship was only a few minutes away from arrival so he quickly gathered his things and stood ready to greet his new superior officer. As is tradition for anyone who graduates early Naruto was given the rank of Ensign and was placed under an experienced captain who would mentor him and help him rise through the ranks quickly. The marines were in a constant battle with pirates and always placed a high priority on the training of marines with great potential to be future high-ranking officers.

As the ship pulled into dock Naruto stood at attention, immediately saluting his superior officer as he disembarked. The newly arrived captain looked odd to say the least. He had long curly black hair and a face with a skull-like appearance. He had an abnormally long neck and muscular arms but extremely thin legs. He wore gold, short-sleeved chain mail armor beneath a blue tunic that bore the marine symbol on its front. A helmet with a large, red plume sat atop his head and he wore a rope belt around his waist. A straight sword hung off his right hip that bore a cross on its pommel.

"Ensign Naruto D. Uzumaki reporting for duty sir!" Naruto stated proudly as he saluted his new captain.

"At ease Naruto," Naruto's posture visibly loosened as he relaxed his tense muscles, "I am your new commanding officer Captain T-Bone. Get your belongings loaded onto the ship and I'll brief you on our assignment in my cabin once you've finished." Naruto nodded in acknowledgement and began to carry his things on board. As soon as he had finished Naruto wandered around looking for the captain's cabin. He found the door to T-Bone's cabin open so he knocked lightly on the door before walking into the room announcing his presence.

"Ah, Naruto," T-Bone said looking up from a newspaper he had been reading, "I hope your accommodations are all right? If not I will do everything in my power to make sure you're time with us is a s comfortable as possible, even if I must die to do so!" he said with expressing his great, some would say too great, care for his men.

"Hehehe," Naruto laughed sheepishly while scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, "no need to do something so extreme sir. Everything is perfectly fine."

"Well, if you ever need anything all you have to do is ask and I will do everything in my power to help."

"Is he like this to everyone or is he just being nice to me to suck up to Garp?" Naruto thought. "Understood captain. You mentioned you were going to brief me on our assignment earlier, what is it?"

"Ah, yes, for the next year we will be patrolling East Blue. Depending on how you perform during this long-term assignment you may be promoted to Lieutenant or Lieutenant Commander, so work hard and do your best! Also, I see that you carry a sword on you, am I wrong in assuming that you're a swordsman?"

"Yeah," Naruto replied resting his hand on the hilt of his katana, "I'm not all that great at using it though, I prefer to use hand-to-hand combat but having multiple options, especially when it comes to combat, is never a bad idea."

"While I dislike curved swords, I would be willing to teach you what I know about swordsmanship if you would be willing to learn."

"Really?" Naruto asked with a huge grin on his face, T-Bone merely nodded in response returning Naruto's smile, "Thank you!" Naruto said while bowing to his captain.

"It's no problem at all Naruto, I will do everything I can to turn you into the greatest swordsman you can be!"

"Hehehe, thank you captain. Now if you'll excuse me, it's been a long day and I'd like to get settled in then get some sleep."

"Sleep well Naruto!" T-Bone called out as Naruto left the cabin. This was going to be an interesting, and trying, year to say the least.

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><p><strong>(2 years later)<strong>

Naruto was currently relaxing on the dock with his feet dangling into the water enjoying the refreshing sea breeze as it tossed his blonde hair about wildly. His rate of growth hadn't slowed over the past few years and despite only being eight years old Naruto was already 5'7" tall. He was wearing the same outfit he had worn since he became an Ensign, an unzipped black track jacket with two orange stripes down the sleeves with a black tee-shirt underneath it. The necklace given to him by his mother hung down around his neck resting on top of his shirt. He wore black cargo pants and had his katana sheathed on the left side of his hip. His black and orange sneakers sat beside him as he gazed off into the distance.

He had learned much over the years under the guidance of Captain T-Bone; he had now actually become proficient at using his sword in combat rather than just swing it around wildly. Rather than use it for the bulk of his fighting, Naruto had begun to develop his sword style which strongly resembled iaidō and focused on incapacitating his opponent with one strong and swift slash before re-sheathing his blade. He matured greatly over the past two years of active duty, and while he was still fun-loving and laid back he was capable of becoming serious at the drop of a hat. Due to natural skill and being fast-tracked he had quickly progressed through the ranks and had already become a Captain at the age of 8. There was even talk in the marines that he could possibly become an Admiral by his twenties if he kept advancing at this rate.

As a result of this he had made quite the name for himself and you would be hard pressed to find someone in East Blue who hadn't heard of Uzumaki D. Naruto "The Prodigy". He had received multiple invitations to join the different Cipher Pol agencies ranging from 1 to 8 but had turned them all down telling them that his place was with the marines like his surrogate grandfather Garp. One such letter sat next to him on the dock but there was one key difference; the letter was from a Cipher Pol agency that didn't officially exist. Originally thinking that it was a prank of some sort Naruto had questioned Garp about CP9 and was surprised when Garp confirmed their existence.

He had received their offer one week ago and since then he has been trying to decide what to do. Naruto had been given a deadline and today was the final day; he would have to make his decision in a mere few hours and he was still undecided. Naruto heard footsteps approaching him and turned his head spotting his grandfather walking down the dock towards him with his hands in his pockets and a neutral look on his face.

Garp sat down next to Naruto and gazed at the horizon with him, "Have you decided yet?" the older man questioned.

"I don't know," Naruto replied, " I really love it here, but joining CP9 is the opportunity of a lifetime. I just can't decide."

"You're running out of time; ready or not in an hour you're going to have to make your decision."

"I know I just—I just can't decide. If I join them I might never be able to see you again, and you're the only family I have left."

"Naruto, I'm a Vice-Admiral, you barely get to see me as it is. Besides, we can still stay in touch with Den Den Mushi and because I'm relatively free to decide where I patrol I can visit you wherever you're assigned to at the time."

"...I know it's just..." Naruto paused trying to find the right words to express himself, "I don't know it's just that I get this strange feeling of anxiety about leaving. I know I shouldn't, I mean I was fine all those times you had to leave while I was staying at Dawn Island. I guess I'm just really nervous about this."

Garp placed his hand on Naruto's head and affectionately ruffled his hair, "It's okay to be a little nervous this is a big change in your life and you're only 8 years old. By all rights you probably shouldn't even be in the marines yet. But you're my grandson, and you're stronger than half the people in the marines right now; becoming the best in the CP9 should be easy for you."

Naruto turned and looked at Garp before he gave the man a slight smile, "Heh," he chuckled, "I guess you're right." Naruto looked at the ocean one last time before his gaze hardened with resolve, "I've made my decision," he said as he stood and began striding resolutely down the dock back towards Marine HQ, "I'm joining the CP9 and I'll become the best agent they've ever had!" he shouted punching his fist into the air as he continued walking.  
>Garp chuckled slightly at his surrogate grandson's antics before looking back at the ocean before he sweatdropped as he remembered something, "That dumbass forgot his shoes." he thought as he stood up, grabbed Naruto's sneakers, and began walking after the boy mumbling about how kids never pick up after themselves under his breath.<p>

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><p><strong>(7 Years Later)<strong>

"I've retrieved the objective, awaiting further orders," Naruto said clearly into his baby Den Den Mushi in a monotone voice.

"Good work Uzumaki. Exterminate everyone, there can be no witnesses."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, "B–But sir, there are civilians on the island, surely we can..."

"Uzumaki, follow your orders," the voice responded in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Sir, I beg you to reconsider, there must be..." Naruto managed to choke out, still shocked at the order.

"Uzumaki I gave you an order! Follow it or you will be executed no matter how skilled you are!"

"Yes sir," Naruto ground out through clenched teeth before hanging up. He threw the Baby Den Den Mushi across the room in rage causing it's receiver to be destroyed on impact with the wall of the warehouse he was in. Naruto stepped over the unconscious bodies in the room as he slowly made his way over to a crate in the center of the room.

His dress shoes made a slight tapping sound as he carefully stepped around the bodies not wanting to get blood on his suit. Naruto had continued growing over the past seven years and had reached a ridiculous height of 9'6", while he was by no means the tallest person to have been in service to the World Government his height was still abnormal. He wore an all black, pin-striped, three-piece suit with an orange tie and an orange handkerchief tucked into his breast pocket.

Once he reached the crate he easily opened it with his bare hands and looked inside. Within the crate he found over one hundred different devil fruit that the pirates had been stockpiling and were planning to ship out. He reached in and grabbed the first fruit that caught his eye. It was some strange form of banana that was blue and in the shape of a lightning bolt.

Naruto gulped loudly as he eyed the fruit, he had heard from Lucci that the things tasted like shit, and knowing Lucci that was probably an understatement. "Well," he sighed, "here goes nothing," he peeled the fruit and shoved it into his mouth chewing and swallowing as quickly as he could. "Holy Shit!" Naruto exclaimed as he fell to his knees and began dry-heaving because the taste was so foul.

After a minute or so he managed to regain his composure and righted himself as soon as he did he was overwhelmed by a strange sensation. His body was tingling all over and it felt as though a current of electricity was painfully flowing throughout his entire body. The sensation soon passed but was replaced with extreme pain throughout all of Naruto's body especially his back, tailbone, head, hands and feet. Naruto dropped to his knees clutching his head in pain as gold scales started to form on his skin. His back bulged out and suddenly wings extended from his back while his suit somehow created two openings for them without ripping. As scales began to cover his face his ears extended becoming pointed as they too were covered in golden scales. His sapphire eyes became ice blue and gained a feral look as his teeth extended into fangs, scales spread to his forearms and legs while his hands and feet grew claws. Naruto fell to his hands and knees panting heavily as blue lightning crackled all over his body. Aside from his now golden hair, every inch of his body had been covered in scales and as knelt there motionless he appeared to be some sort of human-dragon hybrid. Naruto slowly stood back up trying to grow accustomed to his new form and its altered height, Naruto had grown even taller now coming in at an even 12' tall giving him an imposing figure.

As Naruto walked towards the exit all that could be heard was the crackling of the electricity surrounding his body. As he reached the door he hesitated for a moment and mumbled something under his breath that was nearly drowned out by the sparks surrounding him.

"I am so sorry," he stated thinking of all the innocents he was about to kill, "please, forgive me," with that he strode out of the door. A few minutes later, screams echoed in the distance before being drowned out by a large explosion.

Two weeks had passed since the incident and Naruto's blonde hair swayed in the breeze as he stepped off his boat. In the past few years his hair had grown to become shoulder length and two long bangs hung down framing his face. He was still clad in his black three-piece suit with his orange tie hanging loosely around his neck and his handkerchief still tucked into his breast pocket. The katana that he had grown attached to was sheathed on his left hip ready to be drawn at a moments notice.

The main gates to Enies Lobby opened immediately for him and he strode through moving with purpose and somewhat hurried steps. He had soon arrived in the tower at the back of the island which CP9 operated out of and began climbing up heading for his quarters. He flicked on the lights as soon as he entered and walked over to his desk sitting down in the chair in front of it. He quickly opened one of the drawers and grabbed a pen and paper setting it in front of him on his desk. Naruto then began writing his mission report quickly without rushing and stood up once he was done. He grabbed a folder and stuck the papers inside; he began walking towards his door but paused before heading out. He turned around and headed back towards his desk; Naruto threw the folder on top of it before sitting down once more as he grabbed the Den Den Mushi on his desk making a quick call. After hanging up he began writing something else on a separate piece of paper; when he finished he grabbed the folder and paper and strode quickly out of the room turning the lights off as he exited.

Naruto strode into Spandine's office with a grim look on his face stopping a few feet away from his desk. The man had been working on some paperwork and looked up when he realized someone had entered his office. He had a square jaw with that was masked by a long and sharp goatee. His black hair was graying near the top of his head and was combed back flowing out behind his head. He wore a black suit with a peach shirt underneath and had a striped coat hanging off the back of his chair.  
>Spandine gestured towards the couch placed in front of his desk wordlessly telling Naruto to sit. Naruto merely stood silently staring at the man before walking forwards and dropping the folder he had tucked under his arm onto the desk.<p>

"This is my mission report," Naruto told his superior before slamming another sheet of paper on top of the folder, "And this," he stated with conviction, "is my letter of resignation. I'm transferring back to the Marines effective immediately under the orders of Vice-Admiral Garp." Naruto turned around and began walking out of the office, "I'd say it was a pleasure to serve under you, but it wasn't." Spandine merely sat there with a shocked look on his face as Naruto strode out of the building never looking back.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong>** Well, there you have it, the first chapter of my first fanfic is over. I'm basically just laying the groundwork for Naruto's character in the OP universe in this chapter. I'll definitely revisit the time I skipped over in this chapter at some point in the future, but right now I want to get into the main action of the story. Next chapter will be the start of the Enies Lobby Arc, and as I stated before reviews and constructive criticism are welcome and appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** **So I guess when I said I would hopefully have something out by next month I lied, but in all honesty I wasn't expecting to have the second chapter done two days later, but by some miracle it happened, mainly because I already had half of this chapter written out. As I stated before I have no clue what the update speed for the next chapter will be, but it definitely won't be out as fast as this one was. Thanks to everyone for the reviews, since this is the first time I've ever put any of my writing out in public I really appreciate the input. Anyways, on with the story.  
><strong>

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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece<p>

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><p>After some time at sea Naruto's boat docked at Marineford and as he began to disembark he saw Garp standing on the pier waiting for him with some kind of large cloth clutched in his hand.<p>

"Hey Old man how've you..." Naruto was cut off as Garp threw what turned out to be a hooded cloak directly into Naruto's face.

"Shut up and put that on brat! We can't let anyone aside from those on your ship see your face. There were some...complications with your transfer that I'll explain once we get back to my office." Naruto shut up and put the cloak on as fast as he could and began to silently follow Garp back to his office. He knew enough to not argue with Garp when he was in a mood like this.

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><p>As soon as Naruto had stepped into Garp's office the man shut the door and locked it behind them ensuring that they wouldn't be interrupted. Garp walked behind his desk and sat down while gesturing for Naruto to take a seat. Naruto sat down in one of the chairs in front of Garp's desk and pulled the hood of the cloak back down revealing his face to the man.<p>

"Alright Old man," Naruto said while obviously irritated, " what the hell is going on?"

"As I said before, there were some complications with your transfer."

Naruto's gaze hardened as he leaned forward in his chair, "Just what kind of 'complications' are we talking about?"

"Well, apparently you impressed Spandine he's done everything he can to keep you from being transferred back to the Marines. He eventually allowed the transfer but we had to compromise on a few things."

"And what did you end up agreeing to?"

"Well, there was no way for us to completely transfer you out of CP9..."

"WHAT!" Naruto screamed cutting Garp off as the teenager jumped out of his chair and forcefully slammed his hands on Garp's desk, "What do you mean you couldn't transfer me out of CP9, that was the whole damn point!" Garp merely sat in his chair calmly while glaring at Naruto for his outburst in response.

"I'm not finished yet so sit down and shut up you brat!" Garp yelled; Naruto took a deep breath and sat back down but was still obviously angry. "As I was saying, we were unable to transfer you out of CP9 completely but we were able to get you put on reserve with special conditions. They'll only be able to call on you for a mission once every 5 years and during those missions you have complete discretion on how to go about completing it. But because you're still a CP9 agent you will be unable to actually show your face as a Marine and you won't be able to use you're real identity. Instead you will be operating under the alias of Vortex while you are serving with the Marines and are to consider this as a deep-cover assignment. Under no circumstances are you to reveal your true identity. We already have some of our researchers making something to disguise your identity with some alloys that Vegapunk created and it should be arriving anytime now. Also as per regulations for any CP9 agent transferring into the Marines you have been awarded the position of Rear Admiral. Now, do you have any questions?"

"What the hell do you have them working on this time?"

"Nothing too crazy, just a helmet that'll cover your whole head that's nearly indestructible and won't restrict your vision. It might've been a little overkill to use some of the stuff Vegapunk created, but knowing you it'd have to be as strong as possible to last more than a few days, let alone multiple years."

Naruto sheepishly scratched he back of his head, "So I tend to be a little hard on the things I own, big deal."

Garp merely stared at Naruto with a blank look on his face, "I heard about the time you went through over twenty swords in one day," he deadpanned, "I think the phrase 'a little hard' is an understatement.

"Sh—Shut up!" Naruto stammered angrily with an embarrassed look on his face, "they were cheap practice swords and Blueno kept using his motherfucking Tekkai!" Garp just sat there giving Naruto a skeptical look. Naruto let out an exasperated sigh while rolling his eyes before continuing, "Anyways, how've you been Old man? You're not getting any younger; you thinking about retiring?"

"Shut up you brat!" Garp yelled slamming his fist into the top of Naruto's head, "I'm not that old, and if I retired who would bail your ass out of trouble all the time!"

"You do raise a valid point," Naruto said while rubbing his chin contemplatively, "and that most likely would be helpful in the future knowing my luck."

"There's more to it than just your startling ability to turn even the most mundane of tasks into a life or death situation."

"How was I supposed to know that some stupid noble would threaten war because I accidentally bumped into him while I was carrying a stack of crates that were so high even I couldn't see over it!"

"You do realize you could've just carried the stuff in multiple trips so you wouldn't be carrying all of it at the same time right?"

"...Shut up."

"I swear, sometimes it's like you're a complete genius and then other times you're a complete dumbass," Garp stated in exasperation.

"Oh yeah?" Naruto questioned as he stood pointing angrily at Garp, "Well you're no..." Naruto was cut off by someone knocking at the door to Garp's office. Naruto immediately pulled his cloak up to hide his face as Garp walked over and opened the door after unlocking it.

"What is it?" Garp questioned staring at the marine in front of him with one eyebrow raised.

"We have the object that you requested sir!" the marine said after saluting. He then removed the object from under his arm and handed it to Garp.

"Thank you, you're dismissed," the marine silently saluted before turning around and heading off down the hallway. Garp closed the door and locked it again before tossing the object that was in his hand to Naruto. Naruto deftly caught the object with both of his hands as it flew through the air and began to examine the object.

It was a one-piece helmet that completely covered the head of its wearer and was composed of some unknown plastic polymer and some rare metal alloy. The area that would cover the area from his chin to his nose as well as his jawline, the back of his head and the area above his brow line were all made of the metal alloy. While the area meant to cover his eyes was made with a black, nearly indestructible, one way plastic polymer that would allow him to see without restricting his vision and hide his identity.

"Well," Garp questioned while staring at Naruto, "are you going to try it on or what?" Naruto slid the helmet on over his head and was surprised by its loose fit, "_Is this thing even going to stay on my head?_" he thought before it somehow compressed giving it a tight but comfortable fit on his head.

"Whoa!" Naruto said in surprise and was surprised again when his voice was somehow changed by the helmet, "How'd they get it to do that?"

Garp merely shrugged in response, " You'd have to talk to Vegapunk or one of the other reseachers to figure that one out, all I know about that thing is the release mechanism."

"Which is?"

"Simple, apply pressure to the area covering your temples on both sides of the helmet at the same time and then grip the area covering the base of your skull and pull it off." Naruto followed Garp's instructions and was able to easily pull off the helmet once it decompressed. "Alright," Garp said, "put that back on and leave it on; the only time you should take it off is when you're washing your hair in the shower aside from that you should keep it on at all times even when you're sleeping. Got it?" Naruto nodded in response before putting the helmet back on. "As I stated before, your alias will be Vortex, it's short, simple, and easy to remember aside from that your back story can be whatever you want, but don't make it too crazy okay?" Naruto nodded once more and began walking for the door when Garp called out to him before he was able to exit the room, " I've got two more things to tell you. One, there are orders from the higher-ups to get rid of your Uzumaki pendant. They're afraid it'll give away your identity, but if you stick it inside your helmet you should be okay. And two," Garp said tossing his keys to Naruto, "the door was still locked dumbass."

"I knew that!" Naruto said angrily as he unlocked the door before tossing the keys back to Garp, "I was just gonna bash the door down it's more fun that way." Garp smiled slightly while shaking his head at his surrogate grandson's antics. "See ya later Old man." Naruto waved without turning around as he walked out of Garp's office.

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><p><strong>(10 Years Later)<strong>

"Vortex-sama!" the door slammed open revealing a marine panting heavily as sweat rolled down his face, "There's a message for you from Enies Lobby, they said it was an emergency!"

The marine entered the room to the sight of a large man wearing a black vest over an orange dress shirt, a navy blue tie, black suit pants, and dress shoes lounging in a chair with his feet propped up on his desk while reading a newspaper. His entire head was covered by a helmet that had metal running along his jawline that extended upwards covering his nose and mouth, his eyes were hidden behind a black plastic polymer of some kind. It was attached to the metal running along the lower portion of his face as well as the piece that covered the area above his brow line and the rest of his head. Hanging beside the man was a black suit coat and a large marine jacket with pure black epaulets

"_Great, Spandam better have a damn good reason for calling._" the man thought as he closed the newspaper he had been reading and lowered his feet from where they had been propped up on his desk. "Did you bring the Den Den Mushi?" the marine nodded in response, "Alright, let's see what Spandam wants." He reached over his desk and the marine placed the Den Den Mushi in his hand and quickly left as the man dismissed him with a wave of his other hand.

"I assume you're using a White Den Den Mushi?"

"Do you think I'm stupid? Of course I'm using a White Den Den Mushi!"

"Well," the masked man replied, " you've made me wonder sometimes. Besides, I was making sure we could use my real name, it never hurts to be a little cautious when it comes to these things."

"Heh, getting a little paranoid eh, Naruto?"

"Well, it tends to help maintain your cover for ten years, anyways, what do you need me for? Must be pretty important if you're willing to pull me off reserve for it."

"Very soon we're going to be transporting an extremely dangerous criminal to Enies Lobby and I'd like to have you here as added protection, there's a possibility her crewmates may pursue and I don't feel like taking chances with Nico Robin."

"So that's why you called eh? Alright, should be easy enough, I guess I'll head over to help out. I should be there in a few days."

"_Now to stall for as long as possible and hopefully this shit will be over with soon. Spandam is even worse than his damn father._"Naruto thought as he stood up after ending his call on the Den Den Mushi, towering over his already abnormally large desk, he threw on his suit coat; quickly buttoning it up and donned his marine coat draping it over his shoulders and wearing it like a cape. He snatched up his katana that was leaning against his desk and attached the sheath to the left side of his hip as he strode out of his office ducking slightly under the frame of the door way. "_Sometimes I hate being so tall._" he thought.

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><p>"Alright crew!" Naruto bellowed standing on the deck of his ship, "Gather up everyone who isn't here already, we're heading out to Enies Lobby!"<p>

"Aye aye sir!" they shouted in response as they bustled about preparing the vessel for travel while others dashed off in search of their absent crewmates. Naruto headed into his quarters and sighed when he saw the large stack of papers on his desk, "Sometimes I really hate being a Vice Admiral," he mumbled in defeat, "I really need a secretary...maybe I could get Kalifa to do it, last I heard her cover was a secretary of some sort." he mused while stroking his chin thoughtfully as he ambled towards his desk and the mountain of paperwork it held, "...Nah, she'd probably accuse me of sexual harassment or something...oh well." Naruto slumped into his chair behind his desk and began working on the large stack of paperwork before him, "_This is gonna take awhile_."

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><p>Some time later Naruto's ship landed at Enies Lobby, "Head back to base guys! I'll call you back when I need to head out again!"<p>

"Aye aye sir!", they responded as they raised the sails on the ship and began to leave, "Good luck on your mission sir!"

"Heh," Naruto mumbled to himself "those guys... no matter how many times I tell them to they never stop calling me sir." Naruto began walking towards the stairs leading up to the giant gate that cut off Enies Lobby from the outside world, flanked on one side by a line up of marines and a line up of Cipher Pol agents on the other standing at attention. As he climbed up the stairs the giant gates creaked open allowing him to pass by unhindered, as he stepped over the threshold Enies Lobby was revealed to him. It stood there in front of him, seemingly floating in the air over an abyss that opened up in the middle of the ocean that was so deep the bottom was hidden completely in darkness, the large World Government symbol adorning the Gate of Justice clearly visible behind the structure. "Well, this is nostalgic." Naruto commented, "I wonder if anybody else is here yet," Naruto began striding forward as the gate clicked behind him signalling that it was closed, "Well, might as well not keep them waiting."

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><p>As Naruto entered Spandam's office he overheard the man speaking to three other CP9 members, "It's been ten years since all 9 of CP9 have been together!" he exclaimed while standing with a sword leaned on his left shoulder and a newspaper in his right hand. He was a relatively pale man with shoulder length, wavy, lavender colored hair. He wore a studded leather mask on his face that covered part of his brow, his nose, the right side of his face below his eye and part of his jaw. Spandam also had dark markings under his eyes that made him look somewhat like a panda. He wore a black, high-collared leather vest with pants that matched his vest and a studded belt. He had white shoes with brown tassels connected to their heels, and wore a long-sleeved light gray shirt with a diagonal pattern beneath his vest with the collar of the shirt turned up. "And what's with this news story?" he reprimanded them, "The plan was to kill the rebellion leader a total of three targets were to be eliminated...but, you killed 23 people!" his only answer was silence from the three members, "Do you have anything to say?" he shouted slamming his fist onto his desk.<p>

"They weren't civilians were they?" Naruto asked as he revealed himself to the others, he had abandoned the clothing he wore while under the name Vortex and had donned a black suit and shirt along with an orange tie and had an orange handkerchief in his suit's breast pocket. His shoulder length blonde hair spiked wildly atop his head and his bangs perfectly framed his face, his blue eyes gazing intently at his superior. The only response was a shake of the head, "Then give them a break. After all, accidents happen, unfortunately not everything goes according to plan."

"Fine," Spandam sighed, "I'll let them off this time simply because I don't feel like arguing with you before you've even been here for more than five minutes."

"Aww," Naruto said sarcastically, "you really do care. But what's this I've heard about you trying to train a replacement of me? Is he any good?"

"You mean that brat Nero?" Naruto nodded in response, "I heard he failed again, that brat's useless."

"At this rate you'll never find a suitable replacement for me... although, supermen do tend to be pretty hard to come by." Spandam opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the Den Den Mushi on his desk ringing, as he picked it up a voice could be heard screaming, "This is the Main Gate, reporting to the Front Gate officers!"

"What is it?" Spandam responded, " Is something wrong?"

"An intruder has climbed over the Main Gate and is quickly approaching the Front Gate!"

"..."Spandam sat there in annoyed silence, "If it's only one guy...just kill him!"

"No..." the marine replied, "he's..."

"This is Front Gate."another marine reported, "We see the intruder...we'll get rid of him. Don't worry about it."

"Be careful everyone! If I'm not mistaken... the intruder is...Straw Hat Luffy!" As soon as he heard this Naruto's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"What!"

"S-Say what!" marines all over the island screamed in surprise.

"With a 100 million bounty!" the first marine shouted in reply to his comrades screams.

"This's the Main Gate reporting," yet another marine called out, "two monsters are pulling a giant cart over the fence! A large group of intruders just broke through the perimeter! Requesting backup!"

"Backup!" another marine screeched in the background as muted explosions and gunfire were heard among the screams of the marines.

"Wha—What is your status!" Spandam screamed into his Den Den Mushi, "Guards report! What is your status?"

"He went inside! Hurry, go through the gate!"

"He's entered the Main Island!" they heard screamed in the background.

"You let him through the Front Gate!" Spandam yelled angrily, "What the hell is this! What about Oimo and Kaashi! He beat those two!" As Spandam yelled the other members of CP9 sat quietly across from him, or in Naruto's case stood, with a deep scowl visible on their faces as the reports rolled in.

"No! Since it's night... they're asleep," Naruto sweat dropped as he heard the excuse.

"This isn't the time to sleep! Wake 'em up! And any other sleeping garrisons on the island!" Spandam added.

"An intruder..." Jabura a man with a pointed goatee and Fu Manchu moustache stated with his arms draped over the back of the couch. His hair was braided in a way similar to that of a scorpion's tail , and he had a vertical scar that ran over his left eye and had a pair of sunglasses pushed up onto his forehead. He wore a black opened tangzhuang with white running vertically down the middle, he wore a red sash around his waist partially covering his black pants and wore matching black shoes as well. He also had a tie loosely hanging around his neck which lay on his bare chest "you don't need to scream like that, the director will be fine... we're here after all."

To Jabura's left sat Kumadori, a man with a large frame and a huge mane of light pink hair. He was wearing a black suit and dress shirt with a light green tie and a light green handkerchief tucked into his breast pocket. He was also wearing green hand guards which extended underneath the sleeves of his suit. Sitting on Jabura's left was Fukuro. He was an odd looking man with a round body shape and a zipper across his mouth. He had green shoulder length hair and purple dimples on his cheeks. He wore a black suit with a white tie and a white handkerchief in his breast pocket.

"Don't be a fool!" Spandam retorted, "As the front steps of the World Government Justice Island is burdened with a sacred "Badge"! I expect that any idiot can understand what it means to invade this place! He came all the way to the Main Island just to get back one of his comrades. How embarrassing! Being beaten by this filth, the Straw Hat Crew!"

"I dunno," Naruto replied "he sounds like a pretty good guy to me." Spandam just gave Naruto a deadpan look, "What! Any guy who's willing to stick the proverbial middle finger to the World Government just to save his friend can't be that bad of a guy!" his only response was a silent glare from Spandam, "Not to mention that he was raised by Garp too; if anything he's probably a pretty cool guy." Spandam silently shook his head in response already regretting his decision to bring Naruto in as backup.

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><p>As the members of CP9 continued their discussion a fierce battle raged on outside between the Straw Hat Pirates, the Franky Family, the Galley-La shipwrights, and the Marines. Utter chaos reigned as explosions sounded all around the yard and the smell of gunpowder permeated the air as the Marines and Cipher Pol agents fired on the invaders. Blood drenched the ground as men were shot, stabbed, sliced, blown up, and eviscerated, death being ever present on the battlefield.<p>

"Gatekeeper! Report your status, Gatekeeper!

"How many enemies! Where are they?" a baby Den Den Mushi screeched attached to the wrist of an unconscious marine, "Respond, Main Gate!"

"Rope action..." Paulie shouted over the din of battle, preparing his attack, "Figure of Eight Knot!" Eight ropes tied off at the end flew out from the sleeve of his jacket slamming into the face of a Cipher Pol agent knocking him out in one go.

"Bazooka bat!" Zambai yelled as he slammed the barrel of his giant gun into the head of a marine knocking him out cold, "Not gonna waste my bullets yet!" he stated a large grin on his face.

"Open the gate," Paulie yelled pointing towards the giant Main Gate standing in his way, "the key should be beside the door!"

"Okay!" someone answered as the group advanced up the stairs despite heavy resistance from the Marines.

"I won't let you escape!" a resolute marine yelled standing in the path of the invaders.

"You're in the way!" Kiwi and Mozu shouted as they slashed the marine at the same time with their swords cutting him down. "Mozu! Go left!" Kiwi yelled running to the right.

"Roger!" Mozu shouted in response running in the opposite direction of her sister.

"Don't let them go!" a marine with a particularly large nose screamed, "Wha!" he shouted in surprise as part of his nose hair spiked randomly out of his left nostril, "My nose hair is acting all funny!"

"To look away is forbidden!" Peeply Lulu shouted as he cut the marine down with his dual swords. Meanwhile, Tilestone had grabbed two marines and a Cipher Pol agent in a giant bear hug and squeezed them together while shouting "Keel Crusher!" making them cough up large amounts of blood and incapacitating them at the same time.

While this was going on, the three strongest members of the Franky Family were attempting to push open the gate while the rest of their family cheered them on. The gates opened with a loud creaking noise revealing the marines who had been waiting behind the gate. "Don't let 'em open the gate! Defend it with you life!" one marine screamed while his comrades opened fire on the invaders.

The marines were immediately blasted by a bazooka as a member of the Franky Family shouted at them to move. As soon as the marines had been dealt with one of the members shouted, "Let's go!" loudly as they continued their advance. They managed to fully open the gate and stormed through cheering in victory at overcoming that obstacle. Many of them were amazed as they crossed over the large abyss and headed towards the Main Island Gate.

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><p>"The Main Gate has been opened huh Oimo?"<p>

"Yeah we can't let that go Kaashii. It sucks we gotta wake up." his companion stated as their gargantuan forms hopped over the gate.

"But it's time to work, let's go." Kaashii replied.

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><p>"Hwaa," Kaashi yawned as he and Oimo landed in front of the invaders. "I didn't get enough sleep. Let's chase 'em off quick and get back to bed."<p>

"Oimo," Oimo replied.

"Eh!" the Franky Family yelled in surprise as their advance was halted, "Giants!"

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><p>Luffy stood in the center of a large clearing surrounded by marines and Cipher Pol agents numbering in the hundreds. Most merely stood there staring at Luffy while some shuffled around or whispered to their comrades around them.<p>

"Hey," one confident Cipher Pol member stated, "Straw Hat Luffy, so...where's the rest of your army?" Some of the surrounding agents and marines began to laugh as he continued, "Enies Lobby's forces number in the ten thousands!"

"Yeah..." Luffy replied confidently while cracking his knuckles, "and I'm alone. Get out of my way!"

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><p><strong>AN: Well, that's the second chapter of this story down. This is a bit shorter than the last chapter but I figured this spot would be a relatively okay stopping place considering the fact that this is where the volume ended. I'm not too sure about how the big battle scene at the end turned out so if you could tell me what you thought of it I'd appreciate it. Also, I am in need of someone who is capable of translating English into Japanese for Naruto's original techniques and the name of his Devil Fruit. If I can't find anyone I'm just going to have to do all the technique names in English because it would just look stupid to have everyone's attacks in Japanese and then have Naruto's in English, if you're willing to help out, please PM me about it. As I said last time, all reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Well shit, this chapter's been a in the making for a while now. Sorry that it took so long, but I've come back with a vengeance and I don't plan on leaving again anytime soon.**

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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece.<p>

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><p>"What's going on?" Spandam said into his Den Den Mushi while he sat behind his desk. Naruto and the other present CP9 members looked on in mild interest while somewhat curious about what was going on outside.<p>

"Sir!" it responded, "Kaashi and Oimo are currently holding them off at the Front Gate! I don't believe there'll be any problem!"

"...I see. Have you captured The Straw Hat?"

"Sir! Er... the estimate is... about 400."

"400? What're you talking about?"

"It's the damage report sir!"

"Ah?!" Spandam screamed, "Are you saying 400 soldiers are down?"

"Ah.. No, sorry, I'd like to correct that!"

"Of course! There's only one of them! Our soldiers aren't trash; we can't have that many down! If there's damage report it correctly!"

"Yes. Five...Hnn!" the Cipher Pol agent moaned as he was hit by a launched marine that instantly knocked him out.

"...Five? Idiot! How could you mistake five for 400 people?" Spandam hung up the Den Den Mushi, which began to lightly snore as it fell asleep. " So this "Straw Hat" Luffy is running around the island not fighting anyone. Of course. No one would fight that many soldiers unless they were brain-dead! It's only a matter of..."

"Uh, Chief?" Naruto interjected.

"What is it Naruto?" Spandam asked, slightly aggravated at being interrupted.

"Don't you think it's a little unlikely that an agent mistook 400 people for five?" Spandam merely nodded in response, "Don't you think it'd be more likely that he was cut off before he could finish his sentence? And that he meant to say 500?"

Spandam's jaw made a distinct thunk as it hit his desk, "Our soldiers aren't that incompetent!"

"Yet you believe that one of them is stupid enough to mistake 400 downed people for five?" Naruto deadpanned as he stared with a quirked eyebrow at Spandam.  
>Spandam opened his mouth to retort but was cut off as the doors to his office opened and one of his subordinates shouted, "Captain! Lucci and company are here!"<p>

"They are?" Spandam replied, instantly forgetting about his argument with Naruto, "Show them in!" His subordinate hustled out of the room as a group of four people walked in.

The man in front, Lucci, had shoulder-length wavy hair and a goatee. He was wearing a black suit with a white tie and a white handkerchief in his breast pocket. A large fur-lined coat was draped over his shoulders and a large black top hat with a sepia band sat atop his head. His pet pigeon Hattori sat on his shoulder and wore a black tie around its neck and a small coat that matched Lucci's.

The man to Lucci's left, Kaku, wore a black zip-up suit jacket over a black turtleneck with black pants and dress shoes. He had a crimson handkerchief tucked into his suit jacket's breast pocket and wore a plain black cap atop his head. His nose was extremely large and was similar to Usopp's, the only difference being that Kaku's nose was shaped like a rectangle.

The woman standing to Lucci's right, Kalifa, who had long blonde hair and had glasses perched atop her nose. She wore a black long-sleeve dress that ended halfway down her thigh over a fish net shirt along with a pair of fish net stockings. A pair of black gloves covered her hands and her height was increased slightly by the pair of black high-heel shoes she was wearing.

Bringing up the rear of the group was Blueno, a tall, well-built man whose hairdo resembled the horns of a bull. He had large lips which were framed by a mustache and a beard, he wore a black suit with black gloves and a yellow handkerchief in his breast pocket.

"It's been a while, sir." Lucci stated as he strode into the room while Hattori waved in greeting with the other members following behind him.

"Ah! You're back!" Spandam shouted with a large grin on his face, "Lucci, Kaku, Blueno, Kalifa."

"That's sexual harassment." the blonde replied while she adjusted her glasses.

"By just saying your name?" Spandam shouted in surprise, clearly flustered.

"Wanted for assaulting government agents in Water Seven eight years ago," Lucci stated matter-of-factly, "the criminal, Cutty Flam. 20 years ago, wanted for attacking marine ships in Ohara, West Blue... the criminal Nico Robin. Both criminals have been escorted here. They're waiting just outside." Naruto turned around to look at his fellow comrades that he hadn't seen in ten years while the other members seated on the couch looked back over their shoulders at the returning members.

"Heh, I see you still have that pole shoved up your ass Lucci." Naruto said with a slight grin appearing on his face.

"Naruto?" Kaku questioned with a raised brow, "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah? Well I didn't plan on being here either. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing really."

"Long time no see Lucci," Jabura said while smirking evilly, "Looks like that flat mug of yours hasn't changed much."

"Same goes for your stupid looks, Jabura," Lucci replied, "and I can see your sense of humor is still as shitty as ever Naruto."

"Not nearly as shitty as the aforementioned pole up your ass." Naruto retorted.

"Settle down you guys," Kaku interjected stopping them before a brawl occurred, "We haven't been together in a very long time!"

"Yoyoi!" Kumadori yelled, "Don't fight, you guys! It's been ten years! Show a little affection!"

"Chyapapapa..." Fukuro said as he unzipped his mouth. All of the newly returned members excluding Naruto proceeded to attack Fukuro, who was sent flying through the air and landed on his back after being kicked by Lucci.

"Couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you, Fukuro?" Kalifa questioned as she adjusted her glasses once again.  
>Fukuro sat up with an eyebrow raised, "Naruto you didn't attack? Don't you want your strength measured?"<p>

"You sure you want me to hit you? I'm not the same as I was ten years ago." Fukuro merely nodded in response, "Alright, don't say I didn't warn you." Naruto ran forward seemingly unhindered by his suit as his form began to blur. He delivered a devastating punch to Fukuro's gut with his right fist and sent the poor man flying into the wall. The wall cratered as Fukuro slammed into it before falling to the ground and taking a knee. Fukuro stood up quickly and touched the fingertips of both hands together with his eyes closed and said, "Rokushiki Ryuugi! Teawase!" He moved his hand to the bridge of his nose and began speaking, "If a typical, armed guardsman is considered to have ten "Doriki". Let's see, let's see! Then your strengths are Kalifa at 630 Doriki. Blueno at 820 Doriki. Kaku...2200 Doriki! Lucci...hm...4000 Doriki!"

"4000 Doriki?" Jabura screamed, "Hey, are you kidding? I've never heard of such a high number! And what about Naruto?"

"Hmm...Naruto... 8000 Doriki!" There was a resounding crash around the room as everyone's jaw save for Naruto and Lucci's hit the floor, hell, even Lucci looked impressed.

Naruto simply stood there chuckling as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Hey," he said in response to the disbelieving looks he was getting from everyone in the room, "I told you guys I wasn't the same as before didn't I? Did you guys just assume that I was only referring to my killer good looks and my even more abnormal height of 10'2"?"

"Everyone's gotten stronger." Fukuro stated, "I've already measured Jabura and Kumadori's strength, so everyone's ranked accordingly! Naruto is 1st with 8000 Doriki, 2nd is Lucci with 4000 Doriki, 3rd is Kaku with 2200 Doriki, 4th is Jabura with 2180 Doriki, 5th is Blueno with 820 Doriki, 6th is Kumadori with 810 Doriki, 7th is me with 800 Doriki, and 8th is Kalifa with 630 Doriki."

"I don't believe this!" Jabura screamed while pointing a finger at Fukuro accusingly," Forget about Naruto and Lucci for a moment, you're saying I scored lower than Kaku as well?"

"Chyapapa," Fukuro laughed, "Kaku's gotten stronger too!"

"Damn you!" Jabura yelled angrily at Kaku, "Don't try to rub it in! All that Teawase measures is your physical power!" Kaku merely glared silently at Jabura in response to his outburst. "When we fight for real, I'll also use my devil fruit power! Then I'll definitely surpass you!"

"Say whatever you like." Kaku said uncaringly, "I'm not interested either way."

"That's right" Lucci commented, "You shouldn't bother with the barking of a mad dog."

"Who're you calling a mad dog, Lucci you wild cat!" Jabura screamed while glowering angrily at Lucci. Lucci glared silently at Jabura in response to the man's retort.

There was a loud growling noise as they transformed into their hybrid devil fruit forms causing their shadows to lengthen resembling two wild beasts. Naruto let out an exasperated sigh and prepared to break up the fight if it started; Jabura had always been a bit of a hot head and Naruto had suspected that a fight would happen at some point during the meeting.

"Please calm down both of you!" Kalifa pleaded attempting to defuse the situation.

"Jabura, just let it go." Kaku stated completely unfazed by the fact that a fight was about to break out between the two. Jabura calmed down and both of them backed down. Naruto sighed in relief that the tense situation had been resolved without Lucci beating the ever-loving shit out of Jabura.

"Jabura got dumped by Gatharine from the cafeteria yesterday." Fukuro revealed

"No wonder." Blueno stated.

"Every soldier on the island knows that." Fukuro responded.

"What!" Jabura shouted in a mixture of surprise and rage, "How can they all know that!"

"I told them." Fukuro stated while laughing.

"Damn you!" Jabura screeched as he lunged at Fukuro and began zipping Fukuro's mouth up in a vain attempt to keep the man from revealing more of his secrets.

"Would you all just forget about that meaningless ranking!" Spandam shouted in an attempt to restore order to the meeting. "When you all completed the Rokushiki training you've all gained superhuman strength! You're a superman even if you only achieve 500 Doriki!"

"The director's Doriki is 9." Fukuro stated slyly after he had unzipped his mouth.

"Be quiet!" Spandam shouted angrily, embarrassed by his extremely low score, "That doesn't matter, since I'm just the guy in charge! Plus, I have my sword should I need it!"

"Don't worry sir." Kalifa stated while adjusting her glasses, "We already know that you're weak."

"What!" Spandam said in surprise as his self-esteem took a huge blow, "Do you have to be so blunt about it!"

"That's sexual harassment."

"Eh!?" he shouted in surprise, "But all I did was respond to what you said!"

"Sir..."

"Hm...what?"

"That's sexual harassment."

"Just being here!?"

"Yoyoi!" Kumadori cut in, "Kalifa, you have no respect!" he yelled in admonishment, "Sir I—I'll commit seppuku to atone for Kalifa's crime!"

"Seppuku!" Kumadori exclaimed before attempting to stab himself with his staff, but right before it connected he exclaimed, "Tekkai!" and instinctively activated the technique preventing him from killing himself. "Why can't I die!" he exclaimed while hunching over in despair, "Is my mother in heaven stopping me from dying?"

"I wish you'd just die and go be with her!" Jabura yelled angrily already fed up with Kumadori's antics and his over-dramatic personality.

"...Regardless," Spandam stated, "all of your hard work over the last five years is greatly noted. Later, I have some gifts for you. But first, show me—the hope of the world!"

Before the two prisoners were led into the room eight armchairs were set up in two rows creating a path to Spandam's desk from the doorway. The CP9 agents sat down in the chairs facing each other while Naruto casually sat on the front of Spandam's desk while the man stood next to him in the center of the aisle.

A man and a woman were led into the room side by side. The man, Franky, was well-built and stood with his arms bound behind his back by a length of large metal chain that wrapped around his torso multiple times. He had an extremely odd appearance, wearing only a speedo and a red, unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt with yellow palm trees on it. A large gold chain rested on his chest and he wore a pair of sunglasses on his forehead. His odd light blue hair was gelled up in the front and his sideburns framed his oddly shaped face. Franky's nose appeared to be made of some sort of metal, his chin ended in three distinct points, and his eyes were dark brown in color. His forearms were absolutely enormous and they bore two large light blue stars that matched the color of his hair. His biceps were tiny compared to his forearms giving him a comical appearance.

To his right stood Nico Robin whose hands were bound behind her back with seastone handcuffs. Robin had shoulder length black hair and blue eyes. She wore a short, black leather dress with long sleeves that showed off her substantial cleavage with a white polka-dotted underdress beneath it. She was also wearing black high-heeled boots that went up to her thighs.

"_So that's the infamous Devil Child eh?"_ Naruto thought, "_A complete victim of circumstance; wanted dead or alive simply for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. It's stuff like this that makes me really hate that 'Absolute Justice' bullshit."_

"Wahahaha!" Spandam laughed with intense glee while Naruto glared at him discreetly, "I couldn't be happier!What a miracle this is! That you survived that crash 8 years ago Cutty Flam!" Franky closed his eyes solemnly and said nothing in response while Robin looked ahead impassively, "And you, Nico Robin, the world-wide threat that has been long sought after! The people of this world may not know of the glorious achievements we've made here today." Spandam stated grandiosely, "It'll be years before these events are made into songs and sung the world over. But, from our perspective, the 'Justice' of the old men in the World Government today is too weak! You can't hope to achieve anything without making a few sacrifices first! We will strive with all our might towards peace for all mankind! Any trash that gets in our way must be destroyed! Absolutism is a small price to pay for world peace! Anyone, like that merman, who refused to give us what we want, is no more than a traitor who deserves death!" Spandam exclaimed almost fanatically.

Naruto grit his teeth and clenched his fists in anger barely restraining himself from assaulting Spandam, if there was one thing that he couldn't stand, it was killing the innocent. The World Government existed to protect the weak! Not kill them!

Spandam's statement was the final straw for Franky, he glared angrily at him and charged towards the man. "The reason Tom sacrificed his life to protect the blueprints was to keep it away from scum like you!" Franky exclaimed before biting Spandam's head with his massive jaw. Spandam screamed in pain as Franky's teeth dug into his skull causing him to bleed.

Naruto's fists unclenched slightly while he smirked at Spandam's predicament. "_Gotta say, I'm starting to like this guy."_

"Sa—Sa—Saa—Save me you guys!" Spandam shrieked while Franky maintained his death grip on Spandam's head. Naruto merely sat next to Spandam chuckling lightly without raising a finger to help.

"Yoyoi!" Kumadori yelled as he jumped from his chair planting his staff on the ground in front of him while taking a knee, "Yes sir!" Franky looked over in surprise wondering what Kumadori planned on doing from that far away. To his surprise, Kumadori's hair lengthened while he exclaimed, "Yoi!" his hair slammed Franky into the ground causing him to let go of Spandam's head.

During the commotion Naruto glanced behind himself and noticed that Spandam had left the receiver off the hook. Naruto debated whether he should let Spandam know about it. "_Nah," _he thought, "_the look on his face when he realizes the rookie mistake that he made will be priceless. Not to mention how he'll look when he gets the new damage report."_ Naruto snickered silently before turning his attention back to what was going on in the room.

* * *

><p>While the members of CP9 were dealing with their two prisoners chaos reigned outside while Luffy was single-handedly tearing through the marine forces. "Sir, this is the Main Island Defense!" One marine screamed into his Den Den Mushi, "Spandam, sir, please respond!" But despite his best efforts he received no response. "It's not getting through!" he screamed to one of his comrades.<p>

"Did he leave the receiver off the hook again?"

"No way! That's such a beginner's mistake!"

"Hey!" a marine sniper on a rooftop yelled while he scoured the area below, "Where'd Straw Hat go!"

"Below you!" the marine force on the ground screamed in response.

"Gomu Gomu no Kazan!(Gum Gum Volcano)" Luffy yelled while launching a massive kick that sent his foot flying into the air smashing through the roof of the building the marine had been standing on. The roof of the building shattered from the force of the kick sending marines and large pieces of rubble flying through the air. Luffy slammed into one of the remaining walls of the now roofless building causing it, and the other two walls, to fall towards the ground.  
>Luffy jumped out of the building after it while yelling, "Gomu Gomu no Gatling" as he launched a barrage of punches at the wall that were so fast his arms began to blur. The wall crumbled under his vicious assault and chunks of the wall were sent flying towards the ground, and the other marines, at extremely high speeds.<br>"Watch out!" One of the marines screamed in fear before the rest of his companions were blindsided by the assault. The attack absolutely decimated their numbers knocking out any marines in the vicinity that could have pursued Luffy as he continued on his way relatively unhindered.

"Spandam," one marine shouted into his Den Den Mushi vainly attempting to contact his commanding officer, "sir, please respond! Tell us how to proceed! Straw Hat Luffy isn't gonna stop!"

As Luffy ran through the streets he began to be bogged down by marines once more and had to interrupt his mad dash to find Robin and deal with them. He released a flurry of punches and kicks instantly knocking out anyone foolish enough to come within his range. One particularly stupid marine launched a bazooka at Luffy only to have it deflected back at him blowing up the building he was on.

Luffy grabbed the massive axe of a marine that had tried to attack him from behind and spun around throwing the axe at high-speed clearing a straight path through the marines who dodged out of the way. Luffy sprinted down his impromptu path easily beating down anyone who tried to stop him.  
>Luffy jumped into the air while he was sprinting and screamed "Gomu Gomu no Yari!(Gum Gum Lance)" and extended his legs to deliver a flying kick to the chest of a Cipher Pol agent. Luffy then used the rebound to launch himself into a tree on a rooftop to catch his breath. "Haa," he panted, "those stupid soldiers... they just keep coming! I'm stuck here!"<p>

"Huh?" he said in surprise as he saw roughly half of them head off in a different direction, "they're leaving?"

"Send half the men to the Front Gate!" he heard a Cipher Pol agent shout, "The pirates have breached the gate! We must stop them!"

"They're here!" Luffy exclaimed happily with a smile on his face, "Great! Now, this should be fun!" One marine fired a bazooka at the tree Luffy had been resting in setting it on fire as a result of the explosion. Luffy easily dodged the blast and began running across the rooftops at high-speed while shouting, "You missed!" at the marines.

* * *

><p>Naruto sat silently on Spandam's desk with his teeth clenched while he barely managed to restrain himself. Franky cried out in pain as he laid on the ground while Spandam repeatedly slammed his foot into Franky's face.<p>

"You're just as hot-headed as you were back then Cutty Flam." Spandam stated while thoroughly enjoying the power he held over Franky, "How I wish I'd known you were alive and in possession of the blueprints. I wouldn't have had to suffer this way." Spandam grinned gleefully as he slammed his foot into Franky's face again,

"Using the sins of your past to capture you would have been so easy!" Franky was silent as he laid motionless on the ground while blood trickled out of his nose. "Instead, your senior apprentice friend, Iceburg, was a great annoyance. After Tom's death he united the major shipyards of Water Seven under one name, and turned them into a major corporation. He allied with the World Government, an organization that should've held a grudge against him, and established his company as a World Government purveyor." Everyone in the room sat silently as Spandam continued his speech, " He became the president of the Galley-La Company shipbuilders, and mayor of the water capital, Water Seven! Being supported by everyone, even the government, rendered him as an indispensible entity. Upon which even we couldn't lay a hand!"

Naruto nodded silently, "_Thank God there are at least some people in the world even the CP9 aren't allowed to go after. I shudder to think what Spandam would do if he could really kill whoever he wanted."_

While this was going on Franky remembered when he had yelled at Iceburg once he had learned of him cooperating with the World Government. "_So that's why he did business with the World Government!"_ he realized.

"What a smart guy he was!" Spandam shouted while laughing uproariously, "But now, the winds blow in my favor! Just when I was about to shake off my numbness and begin our enforcement plan I received some good news from Admiral Aokiji." Spandam paused for a second before continuing, "Nico Robin was aboard a pirate ship. And was heading for Water Seven! To calm myself, I drank a cup of coffee, and incorporated my access to the Buster Call into my strategy! Although the scenario changed a little, look! The two keys to reviving the ancient weapon are here before me! Don't you see!?" Spandam exclaimed fanatically, "The winds of the world are truly blowing my way now! The power to rule over any civilization I wish is within my grasp!"

"_Great,"_ Naruto though with his head in his hands, "_Spandam's gone mad with power. Because he wasn't bad enough to begin with. I fucking hate this guy."_

"Why would Aokiji entrust you with the Buster Call?" Robin questioned.

"...What?" Spandam's face fell as Robin's question took the wind right out of his sails. Spandam's face twisted in rage before he leapt at Robin and punched her square in the face. She fell to the ground while Spandam screamed at her, "Don't you dare question me! You insolent woman!"  
>Franky grit his teeth in rage as Robin fell onto the ground beside him while Spandam laughed at both of them. Beside Spandam, Naruto sat with his head bowed while his bangs cast his entire face into shadow. "You abominable blood from Ohara, the Devil's Land! The value of your damned existence would amount to nothing were it not for me! You should at least be thankful! From now on, you will suffer so much pain, you'll wish for death countless times over! Prepare yourself, I'll beat you, I'll use you, and I'll cast you into the sea! Your existence is that sinful!" Spandam stood there laughing before remembering something else he could use to throw Robin into despair.<p>

"By the way," he stated casually while pointing at her, "that moron from earlier that tried to take your lowly self back is here.  
>The look on Robin's face was one of pure, unadulterated shock, "Wha—" she gasped, "it's not possible!"<p>

"Well," Spandam stated while chuckling, fully enjoying the look of shock and despair on her face, "he's probably been caught by the guards by now! The crew of 'Straw Hat Luffy'! Why, he's nothing but garbage before the 10,000 man force of Enies Lobby!" Spandam began to laugh even more uncontrollably as Robin began to despair more and more, "At any rate, shipping him off to prison should serve as a fair souvenir! He'll be taken to Impel Down!"  
>As Spandam spoke Robin felt her spirit slowly getting crushed more and more under the weight of his words. All of this, everything that she had gone through—all of her sacrifices to ensure their safety—would be for naught. "Wait!" Robin screamed in absolute outrage as she attempted to cling to her one last hope, "That's not what you promised me! I only agreed to cooperate with you as long as they could escape safely!"<br>Spandam frowned in annoyance, "You're still desperately clinging to that hope. Lucci, recite the exact condition."

"The six members of the Straw Hat crew, excluding Robin, will depart from Water Seven in peace." Lucci stated in a monotone voice, as soon as the words had left his mouth Naruto's head hung even lower.

"Yeah," Naruto bit out, his words tasting like bitter poison, watching this happen, seeing Spandam delight in ever so slowly breaking someone, made him sick. But what made it worse was the fact that he couldn't do anything about it. Not now at the very least, there were too many witnesses, his hands were effectively tied, "that's right."

Robin sat there completely speechless not grasping what was being implied.

Spandam's face became shadowed as he stared at her with a look of utter contempt on his face, "They sailed from Water Seven safely," Spandam paused for a moment, letting his words sink in, "then came here, didn't they?"

"What'd you say?!" Robin gasped, "You'd violate our agreement using a technicality!"

"There's nothing you can do," Franky said with a look of utter outrage on his face, "these guys are bastards! They've got a screwed up sense of justice."

"What was that?" Spandam ground out angrily, "Shut up you pieces of filth!" he screamed in rage as he violently stomped on both of them. He only ceased his rampage when a powerful hand clasped onto his shoulder.

Spandam turned to see Naruto staring at him stonily as he held Spandam back with his hand, "Spandam, stop."

"Why should I?" he shot back, "They're just worthless pirate scum that needs to be taught a lesson!"

Naruto glared silently at Spandam for a few moments before responding, "They got the message, now stop." Spandam opened his mouth to speak but Naruto cut him off, "Need I remind you that all of my mission reports are submitted to Vice-Admiral Garp who tends to frown on these sort of things? He may not be your direct superior but he has significant pull on those who are and isn't unwilling to use it. That kind of thing is counterintuitive to getting a promotion, is it not? It's in your best interests to just. Stop. Now."

Spandam glared at Naruto for a few moments before bowing out and turning back to Franky and Robin. "You two can just die together, you're powerless before this great justice."

Naruto looked over towards Franky and Robin and, for a few fleeting moments, made eye contact with Robin before hurriedly looking away. The relief and appreciation he had seen in those eyes made him feel sick with guilt. There was so much more he could do—should do—on their behalf, yet he wouldn't. "_This is where I draw the line," _he thought, "_fuck Spandam and fuck the World Government. I'm through with dealing with this shit, Luffy and his crew, all of them, are going to get off this island safely if it's the last thing I do."_ Naruto turned and looked out one of the windows in Spandam's office towards the rest of Enies Lobby, "_So Luffy, let's see just what you're capable of when your crew member's life is on the line."_

* * *

><p>"Out of my way!" Luffy screamed at the top of his lungs as he continued to barrel through even more marines and Cipher Pol agents. Luffy was a whirlwind of punches and kicks that immediately flattened anyone who dared to stand in his way or those who didn't get out of his way fast enough. Blood and marines flew everywhere as immense clouds of dust were kicked up in Luffy's rampage.<p>

"Commander!" one marine screeched as he narrowly avoided getting blasted in the face by one of Luffy's punches, "He's so scary!"

"Don't falter you morons!" their commanding officer yelled in a harsh baritone that was drowned out by his soldiers cries of pain. He began to open his mouth, but was sent flying by one of Luffy's devastating punches before he could yell out more orders.

"That looks like a dead-end!" Luffy panted while his eyes narrowed in annoyance, "I'll still get you out of here Robin!" he yelled in utter determination before bounding off.

* * *

><p>"The Straw Hats have shown up?" Blueno asked as he turned towards Fukuro.<p>

"Yeah," Fukuro responded in a whisper, "we received word of it earlier. The chief was so distracted by the news it was embarrassing. But we only lost five people."

Blueno remained silent as he glanced about the room, doing a quick double-take when he noticed something odd about Spandam's Den Den Mushi, "_The phone's off the hook."_ Blueno realized before returning his attention to what was going on in the office currently.

"Guards!" Spandam ordered while pointing at them, "Chain them up! Don't remove Nico Robin's seastone lock. Take Cutty Flam to Impel Down, and take Nico Robin to Marine HQ. As soon as the convoy's preparations are complete take them through the gate of Justice! CP9 will return to their rooms and rest for the moment." Robin bit her lower lip tightly as she lay with her face on the ground while Franky stared up at the ceiling blankly, "CP9 will surely be recognized for its accomplishments! We'll raise a glass to this unexpected turn of events on the ship!"

"I'm in no mood for a toast." Lucci stated gruffly as he rose from his seat, "I have no interest in status or authority."

"What?!" Spandam gasped as though he had been slapped in the face.

"Our brand of justice exists for the World Government." Lucci stated matter-of-factly, "The government recognizes you as the commanding officer of CP9. It's our duty to perfectly complete our missions! However, I'm not required to endorse your ideals."

"You make a sound argument," Spandam paused believing that Lucci would continue. When he didn't Spandam aggravatedly said, "Well then, what do you want!?"  
>"Blood." Lucci growled out as he transformed into his half-beast form and bared his teeth, "If I'm here even death is justifiable."<p>

A slight frown appeared on Naruto's face after he heard Lucci's statement as he became lost in thought. Did he think that killing someone was the correct course of action in certain circumstances? Of course. You'd have to be stupid to not acknowledge that. But the key phrase was certain circumstances. If the situation warranted it Naruto would wholeheartedly back it as the correct choice, but he would make damn well sure that it was the only option left, or that the person he was killing was too dangerous to be left alive. This kind of blood lust and unnecessary killing—especially the killing of innocents—was something he deeply frowned upon.

He could understand the urge to test yourself against a strong opponent—though not to the death mind you—but the blood lust that Lucci was feeling was a simple, and primal, urge to be violent and cause harm to others. Hell, he could still remember back when they were kids and were simply trainees rather than actual agents. Lucci had been the most peaceful person out of all of them. He could still kick just about anyone's ass in a fight, but outside of their sparring matches he was without a doubt one of the nicest people Naruto had ever met.

But then, he changed.

It had been a few months after Naruto had become a member of CP9 that they took Lucci away for so-called "Special Training" that was required before one became a member. A better term for it would have been something along the lines of re-education or brainwashing. He was gone for an entire year before returning and when he came back, well, he had become the way he is today. Naruto, as well as all of the other CP9 agents, had to go through that "Special Training" before the start of their careers. It was dehumanizing and utterly spirit-breaking, something Naruto preferred to bury deep within the depths of his mind in an attempt to forget about it. If it hadn't been for being raised by Garp before being sent to the CP9 he probably would have ended up just like the other CP9 members. Who were, for all intents and purposes, killing machines.

Did he still respect them? Hell yes, they were the closest things he had to friends during his childhood. But Kami, how he detested what they had become.

By the time Naruto had returned to his senses the other members of CP9, aside from Spandam of course, had begun to file out of the room. Naruto stood up quickly from where he had been sitting on Spandam's desk before quickly following the rest of the group out. He shot a quick glance towards Robin and Franky as he left; it killed him to see someone so broken and he silently vowed once more to ensure that all of the Straw Hats would make it off of the island alive.

Even if he didn't.

* * *

><p>"Yes!" Luffy exclaimed in triumph as he finished scaling the massive wall. Below him, numerous marines and Cipher Pol agents looked around confusedly wondering just how they had managed to completely lose Luffy. The wind blew in strong, constant gusts forcing Luffy to use one of his hands to hold his hat to his head lest it be blown away. "So that's the last building, huh?" Luffy said to himself as he stared at the large structure. The large tower was located on the other side of a seemingly bottomless chasm that had no visible means of being crossed to Luffy's dismay causing him to cry out, "But there's no way over there!" in frustration.<p>

Luffy's beginning rant was cut short as something directly in front of him caught his eye, "Hmm?" Luffy hummed in mild interest, curiously enough, there seemed to be a door forming in the air directly ahead of him. "What the—?" Luffy said in surprise as the door began to open and a familiar figure emerged from within it.

"Ah!" Luffy exclaimed as Blueno emerged from the door, " You're the cow that was with the pigeon guy!"

"Looks like our intelligence really messed up their information." Blueno stated matter-of-factly while staring at Luffy. Luffy completely ignored the statement and chose to focus on Blueno's entry instead.

"Hey, what'd you just do!?" Luffy yelled with excitement and curiosity, "That's so cool! Are you a magician!?" Blueno, returning the favor, completely ignored Luffy's excited questions.

"I figured the damage would be more than five people but—this is unheard of in the World Government—"

"That was surprising." Luffy cut in, somehow becoming completely calm and focused—a stark contrast to his earlier behavior—while standing across from Blueno. Blueno continued to ignore Luffy's comments.

"—a man that broke in all this way to the front steps of the World Government! How long do you plan on struggling?"

"Until I die!" Luffy responded resolutely. "Robin's in that building behind you, isn't she?!" Luffy accused while adopting a wide stance and placing his hands on his knees. "Get outta my way cow!"

"It seems that all of you—still haven't noticed." Blueno stated completely unfazed, "This sort of thing, is a global-scale grand offense." Luffy gazed silently at Blueno in confusion while a World Government flag flapped wildly in the wind.

* * *

><p>Naruto had absent-mindedly wandered about the tower for a few minutes completely bored out of his mind. He finally decided to head up to the rooftop to gaze at the ocean—as he was wont to do from time to time—to try and end his boredom as well as come up with what he was going to do next. Attempting to help the Straw Hats was going to be a very delicate matter, and was, without a doubt, going to be one of the more complex things he would ever have to pull off. Naruto was going to have to divide his attention not only between all the inevitable fights that the Straw Hats were going to have with the CP9 agents, but also with Spandam's progress of getting Robin through the Gates of Justice. He would prefer to have to help as little—and discreetly—as possible, but, depending on how things went, he might have to intervene directly. And if he had to, he would, it's just that he'd rather not openly commit treason if he didn't have to. So, to help ensure that wouldn't be necessary, he'd have to plan out all of his actions meticulously while accounting for every possible deviation that could occur.<p>

Or he could just wing it and fly by the seat of his pants on this one—like usual.

Sometimes Naruto still wonders how he became the best assassin in all of CP9's history.

As Naruto walked out onto the rooftop and spotted Blueno facing off against Luffy he remembered just how he had become the greatest—aside from his skills of course. Sheer. Dumb. Luck. "_Well,"_ Naruto thought, "_let's see how Luffy fares against Blueno. Assuming that Luffy's the strongest of his entire crew this'll give me a good idea about how the rest of his crew will do against CP9. I hope, for his sake and mine, that the answer is a positive one."_

* * *

><p>"What're you talking about?" Luffy asked.<p>

"In the oceans of the world," Blueno replied in a dull monotone, "we boast influence in more than 170 affiliated countries. The massive organization known as the

"World Government" owns this island." Blueno's eyes narrowed as he gazed at Luffy while his voice steadily grew in volume, "When you invaded this island, it meant you decided to revolt against all of those affiliated countries!" Blueno's voice began to quiet and he drawled on in a monotone once more, "The government will use its power. You'll be marked as criminals, until all of you are caught. Then, you'll probably suffer cruel deaths. At most, there are ten of you, what a pitiful amount of power!"

"I just told you to get out of the way!" Luffy shouted in response.

"Whether or not I move, when you all entered the gates of Enies Lobby, all you did was seal your fate." Luffy began to stretch in preparation for a fight while Blueno stared silently, completely unamused, "Fighting is also useless against the Rokushiki. I think you could tell the difference in our power in the Galley-La mansion."

"That's right." Luffy agreed while cracking his knuckles, "But, somehow, this time—," he stated before leaping towards Blueno while throwing his right arm back behind himself as it spun like a corkscrew, "I don't think I'm gonna lose!"

Luffy's left arm shot out as he readied his attack while shouting, "Gomu Gomu—,"

Blueno stared boredly at Luffy before sighing and stating, "Tekkai," under his breath.

Luffy's eyes narrowed as he planted his feet in preparation to deliver the devastating punch. "Rifle!" Luffy screamed as he punched Blueno squarely in the gut, his arm's rapid rotation adding to the punch's destructive power.

Blueno's feet were lifted off the ground while he doubled over because of the punch. A small amount of blood flew out of his mouth as he skidded back a few feet; completely caught off guard by how powerful the punch was. "_What?!"_ Blueno thought in complete shock, "_When I fought this boy in the mansion I don't recall him having this sort of power!"_

Blueno barely had time to recover from the attack before Luffy launched his next one, loudly exclaiming, "Gatling Gun!" as he unleashed a flurry of extremely fast punches.

Blueno exclaimed, "Soru!" as he seemingly disappeared due to high-speed movement managing to narrowly avoid the attack.

But Luffy wasn't going to let him get away that easily.

To Blueno's utter surprise and horror—and Naruto's joy and excitement—Luffy glanced to his right, where Blueno had run to avoid the attack, and quickly changed direction to cut Blueno off.

Luffy slammed his left fist into Blueno's face in an extremely destructive punch that sent the man flying. Blueno smashed into one of the stone columns on the rooftop, crushing it completely, and continued to skid across the ground before finally coming to a stop. Luffy leveled a determined glare at Blueno as the man picked himself up off of the ground, "As for the ways of the World Government, do whatever you want with 'em." Luffy called out, "We only came to take Robin back!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, there you have it. After 7 months and 3 days I finally updated this story.<strong>

**-.-  
><strong>

**Sorry about that. As always, any constructive criticism is encouraged and appreciated.  
><strong>

**Also, some people may be worried that I'm turning Naruto into a Mary Sue/Marty Stu with his Doriki rating being so high. Believe me, for what I have planned he's going to need to be that strong, and he's going to need to be that strong now. And honestly, there are still plenty of people in the One Piece world capable of easily kicking his ass.  
><strong>

**Kizaru being one of them.  
><strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Well, here's the next one.**

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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece.<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto whistled lowly in astonishment as he watched the continuing battle between Blueno and Luffy. "<em>Well,"<em> Naruto thought, "_Luffy definitely knows how to make a statement. I wonder how he'll do now that Blueno will be taking him seriously?"_

* * *

><p>Dust kicked up by the rubble drifted by lazily as Blueno and Luffy stood while silently glaring at each other.<p>

"I underestimated you," Blueno stated matter-of-factly while thinking, "_I can't believe he managed to keep up with the speed of my Soru—"_

"Don't underestimate me!" Luffy shouted indignantly interrupting Blueno's thoughts.

"_I'll be more careful," _ Blueno thought as he kicked off of the air charging at Luffy with an erratic airborne trajectory, "_Direct hits won't affect a rubber man."_

"Gomu Gomu—" Luffy yelled as his right arm shot back in preparation for his attack.

Blueno launched an extremely fast kick with his left leg while shouting, "Rankyaku!" which sent out a sharp blade of compressed air forcing Luffy to abandon his attack and dodge. Luffy quickly ducked narrowly avoiding the blade which passed inches above his head and continued onwards eventually slicing through one of the parapets on the edge of the roof.

Luffy was forced to dodge another Rankyaku enhanced kick by flipping off of the ground over the attack. Blueno planted his right foot firmly on the ground before kicking his left leg straight up and began to spin his body in a cartwheel of death and destruction.

"Tekkai Rin(Iron Mass: Wheel)!" Blueno shouted as he continued to cartwheel towards Luffy at high speeds leaving craters in the ground whenever his feet made contact with it. Luffy began to backpedal away from Blueno as quickly as he could and managed to stay just out of Blueno's reach.  
>Luffy's back collided with the wall of the roof's parapets and it seemed as though Blueno's attack would finally connect.<br>Until he disappeared into a door that suddenly appeared in the floor directly in front of Luffy.

The door closed and disappeared as quickly as it appeared leaving a clearly confused Luffy in its wake, "Wha?" he gasped in surprise and confusion, "Just now, a door appeared on the ground!"

"Doa Doa" Blueno stated as his hands popped out of two small doors in the ground behind Luffy. Blueno quickly grabbed Luffy's legs and pulled them into the doors before partially closing the doors and trapping Luffy's legs inside.

"Whoa!" Luffy screamed in surprise as he felt himself being pulled down, "What, What!? Where'd these little doors come from?" Luffy struggled and tried to pull his legs free to no avail, "Damn! I'm stuck!"

"You!" Luffy screamed as Blueno stepped out of a door in the ground directly in front of Luffy, "What'd you do! Is it a Devil's fruit!?"  
>"It's the 'Doa Doa no mi.' I'm a door man. I can change anything into a door." To punctuate his point, Blueno swiped at Luffy's face while shouting, "Kaiten Door(Revolving Door)!"<p>

The part of Luffy's face, his eyes, that he made contact with began to spin around his head rapidly causing Luffy to become disoriented.  
>"Eh?!" he shouted in confusion, "What's happening?! My Eyes are spinning!" Luffy began to flail around wildly as he tried, futilely, to reorient himself. "Which way's forward?!"<p>

"This way."  
>"Stop it!" the raven-haired teen screamed angrily.<p>

"Rankyaku!" A blade of compressed air shot out from Blueno's kick that was headed straight for Luffy. The teen managed to duck underneath the blow at the last second, which continued onwards into the parapet before cutting easily through the thick stone. Rubble tumbled off the roof of the building alerting a certain green-haired swordsman to his captain's location.

Luffy hopped out of the hole he had made in the ground to escape while slapping his face with both of his hands. "It's closed now," Luffy said while his hands pushed both of his cheeks together, "the door on my face."

"Of course." Blueno replied matter-of-factly, "if a door opens, it will surely close. Good job on avoiding my Rankyaku."  
>"Yeah, well, it's not that big of a deal." Luffy replied while brushing dirt off his shorts.<br>"How unexpected." Blueno activated his Soru and flickered away at incredible speed. He reappeared in front of Luffy and launched a roundhouse kick at his face. Luffy ducked under the blow before leaping back to gain some distance.

He spun in the air and landed with his back facing Blueno. As he turned to face him, Luffy extended his arm to launch a punch at Blueno. The man dodged the blow before flickering away once more. Blueno dashed through the air around Luffy while the raven-haired teen crouched, prepared to leap away at a moment's notice.

Blueno reappeared directly above Luffy and fell towards the teen with his arm outstretched and two of his fingers extended.

"Shigan!" Luffy backflipped away, narrowly dodging the attack causing Blueno's fingers to pierce the stone roof of the building. "Soru!" Blueno disappeared once more as Luffy skidded to a halt.

Luffy glanced over his shoulder to see Blueno in the air heading straight towards him, "Sai Tekkai(Iron Mass: Smash)!" the man shouted as he pulled his fist back. Luffy leapt back to avoid the crushing punch which cratered the ground beneath Blueno's fist. As soon as he landed, Luffy charged towards Blueno while pulling his fist back in preparation to deliver a punch.

"Gomu Gomu no Bullet!"

Luffy's fist stretched towards Blueno at an impressive rate as the man turned to face his attacker while pulling his arm back to deliver a punch of his own. Their fists connected with each other, preventing either from dealing any damage.

Luffy launched a furious barrage of blows at Blueno who crossed his arms over his chest in defense. Blows rained down upon him as he waited for the opportune moment to strike. "Rankyaku!" Blueno swung his leg up to kick Luffy, but it was blocked the teen's leg.

Luffy redirected the kick with one of his own before leaping away to dodge the resulting blade of wind. The attack sliced clean through a parapet causing it to fall from the roof and tumble to the streets below.

"_He can keep up with my speed perfectly," _Blueno thought in amazement while he caught his breath during the lull in the fight, "_he even redirected the path of my Rankyaku. He has unbelievable physical ability."_

"I'm no good," Luffy said with a smile on his face to Blueno's astonishment, "if I stay the way I am now—I won't be any good. After I was defeated by Aokiji, I started thinking about it. If there are any more strong guys like him in the ocean ahead of us, then I have to be stronger—because otherwise I can't protect my nakama! I have nakama who're not strong, but I still want them to be with me!" Luffy exclaimed as his gaze hardened with steely determination.

"So, I have to be stronger than _anybody else_—or I'll lose them all!"

"Then, what will you do?"

Luffy hunched over and placed his hands firmly on his knees, his legs bulged as Luffy pumped massive amounts of blood through his body at an increased rate. His body took on a pink sheen due to his metabolism skyrocketing and his body temperature rising greatly as wafts of steam began to rise from his body."I've thought of a way to fight with all my might—so I won't lose anyone!"

"So I won't have to lose anybody." Even more steam began to billow about his body as his increased body temperature caused his sweat to vaporize instantly.

"_What is he doing?" _Blueno thought, "_Something's happening inside his body."_

Luffy began to pant heavily as steam flowed out of his mouth, "You won't be...able to follow me anymore."

"What?!"

"All of my techniques...will evolve one step." Luffy slammed his fist into the ground while bowing his head, "Gear—Second."

* * *

><p><em>"Hm?" <em>Naruto thought while leaning forward, "_This should be interesting, just what are you up to Luffy?"_

* * *

><p>"'Gear'? Your technique will evolve?" Blueno asked in confusion.<p>

Luffy stood still and didn't answer.

"Emitting steam from your body? Are you trying to imitate a steam engine? What? Are you trying to bluff?"

"I...I'm glad I met you here." Luffy pulled his right arm back while extending his left forward and held the pose while grinning widely, "Gomu Gomu no—"

"You want to hit me? You're just giving me a chance to escape."

Luffy stared at Blueno resolutely.

"Heh, aim well and try to hit me! Soru!" Blueno disappeared as he charged toward Luffy at high speed.

"Jet -Pistol!" Luffy's arm extended at an incredible speed and hit Blueno in the chest mid-stride. He hacked up a wad of blood as he was sent tumbling back into a parapet reducing the majority of it to rubble.

Blueno stood up quickly while clearing away the dust that obscured his vision. To his surprise and horror Luffy was nowhere to be found. "_I can't see him at all!"_

Luffy reappeared off to Blueno's side before blasting him in the face, sending the man flying. Blueno skidded across the ground and stood up just in time to take a fist to the face once more.

"Rifle!" Luffy screamed as he charged the man and delivered another devastating punch to his face. Blueno flew through the air before Luffy reappeared above him and slammed him into the ground with a fearsome punch.

The ground cratered beneath Blueno's body as Luffy leapt away from the man.

Off in the distance, Naruto grinned widely.

"_No way!" _Blueno thought in disbelief, "_No—There's no doubt. Somehow, that guy has figured out how to use Soru!"_

Luffy disappeared once more prompting Blueno to create a door out of thin air and jump inside. In the same instant that Blueno jumped inside, Luffy reappeared behind him and launched a kick, but Blueno managed to get inside just before it connected.

Luffy's momentum carried him skidding across the roof before coming to a halt.

Blueno created a door directly behind Luffy before diving towards him with both hands extended "Doa Doa—" Luffy swiftly moved backwards avoiding Blueno's attack as the man turned his dive into a handspring before landing on his feet.

"I saw how you kicked the ground more than ten times in the moment before you moved." Luffy began as Blueno turned to face him, "I got the hang of it, and I'm glad to know that there's a way to move like that." Luffy threw both of his arms behind him causing them to stretch out in preparation for his next attack.

"Gomu Gomu no—"

"_I'll take the attack with my strongest tekkai!"_ "Tekkai Gou(Iron Mass: Strength)!"

"Jet Bazooka!" Luffy dashed towards Blueno as his arms snapped forwards slamming into the man with massive force. Blueno slid a great distance across the rooftop before finally coming to a stop.

Luffy grit his teeth while Blueno grinned back at him with blood-stained teeth in triumph as Luffy's pink sheen began to fade and Gear Second ended. "You really are tough," Luffy complimented the man as he stuck his thumb into his mouth and bit down, "then I'll show you something even more interesting. Watch this Gear—"

Blueno wavered as his eyes rolled back into his head before falling flat on his face.

"Ha ha!" Luffy laughed in triumph, "I'm dead tired, I guess my body hasn't grown used to it yet. Ah well, I don't care about my body for now. He wasted enough of my time as it is."

* * *

><p>"<em>Well," <em>Naruto thought as he began to stand, "_this looks promising. They might just actually pull this off."_ Naruto began to walk back into the building with one last thought, "_I can't wait to see Spandam's face when he finds out Blueno got his ass kicked."_

* * *

><p>Naruto wandered around the halls of the building aimlessly for some time while quietly coming up with a basic plan of attack. It was at this time he decided that if Nico Robin was about to pass through the Gates of Justice and the Straw Hats were nowhere in sight, he would be forced to intervene. The second that she passed through that threshold and the Gates closed it would be game over.<p>

She would either be sent to Marineford, the headquarters of the marines, or Enies Lobby. Both of which would be impossible for her to escape from, even with Naruto's help. Naruto paused as a winded Cipher Pol agent ran up to him.

"Uzumaki, sir!" the agent shouted while saluting, " Blueno is down and Chief Spandam has requested all members of CP9 to gather in his office! He has ordered the annihilation of the entire Straw Hat crew!"

"Understood," Naruto said while nodding to the man in gratitude before heading off, "thanks for the update."

* * *

><p>Naruto was the last of the CP9 to arrive on the scene and immediately noticed that Franky had broken out of his chains and was on the balcony with Nico Robin and the other CP9 members. He walked calmly through the office before coming to a halt near the balcony.<p>

"Wahahaha!" Spandam laughed maniacally with his arms spread wide, "Glad you're all here, CP9. But, let's wait for a while, the Straw Hat crew has begun to fall apart. Let's see where this is going! Wahahahaha! This is amusing!"

Naruto stepped up onto the ledge of the balcony alongside his fellow CP9 members as they were conversing amongst themselves.

"Oh," Kalifa said in surprise, "our enemy is just Straw Hat himself?"

"Yoyoi!" Kumadori chimed in, "Even if he's alone, he came this far, and that's praiseworthy!"

"Right," Jabra said while laughing, "Blueno got owned. Gyahaha, what an idiot."

"I guess he's lost his touch," Lucci speculated, "after being a bartender for so many years."

"Even if he lost his touch," Kaku added, "would he lose that easily?"

"Tch," Naruto stated while taking a spot next to Kaku, "I agree. Beating Blueno isn't something to scoff at."

"He lost! Chapapapa!" Fukuro threw in.

There was a momentary silence on both sides as wind blew through the gorge that separated both sides. "You want to die?!" Luffy called out in astonishment.

Robin was quiet for a moment before replying, "That's right!"

"Hey Chief!" Jabra yelled while pointing towards Luffy, "Couldn't we just go down there and wipe 'em out so that'd be the end of the story?"

"_Shit," _Naruto thought, "_if we go down there now, we might as well kiss the Straw Hat's chances of rescuing Robin goodbye."_

"Well," Spandam said while completely engrossed with what was unfolding between Luffy and Robin, "just wait. A captain being rejected after coming this far to rescue her, have you ever seen anything funnier than this?!"  
>"<em>Dear Kami, I never thought I'd ever say this, but thank you for making Spandam an arrogant idiot. Does he really think that someone like Luffy would just give up on one of his own?"<em>

"Robi—n!" Luffy called out once more, "Is death what you want?"

"Hahaha!" Spandam cackled with tears streaming down his face due to the force of his laughter, "Listen to his grievous scream! I wonder what the look is on his face while saying that!"

"What the hell are you talking about!?" Luffy screamed while picking his nose.

"Eh?!" Spandam screamed with his eyes bulging out of their sockets, "He's picking his nose!" Robin stared on silently in surprise and shock.

"Listen!" Luffy screamed as the roof behind him exploded outward in a shower of dust and rubble, "Robin! We've come all the way here!" As Luffy continued, Nami and Chopper, who was in his human form, shot out of the newly made hole in the roof and landed behind him, "So we're gonna rescue you anyway! And, if you still wanna die—then die afterwards!"

Naruto couldn't help but smile at the raven-haired teen's resolve.

A hand reached up and grabbed onto the ledge of the roof before the owner pulled himself up out of the hole, "This is what I should've done to climb up from the start." Zoro sighed as he stood up.

"Zoro!" Nami screeched, "I knew it was you! We're only still alive because we took an indirect hit! If we'd been directly we'd be dead by now!"

"Ah? What's going on?" Off to the side, there was another explosion as a blonde figure burst through the floor and onto the roof.

"Dash! Shishinabe Shoot(Boar Hot Pot Shoot)!" Sanji landed on one knee while striking a pose, "I'm definitely the first to get here! Now Robin,you've been waiting! I've come here to rescue—" the cook trailed off as he noticed the others on the rooftop. "Marimo!" he yelled at Zoro, "How'd you get here before me!"

"Ah, you're late." Zoro stated calmly, "Did you get lost?" he asked hypocritically.

"Ah!" Chopper screamed while pointing to a figure flying through the sky, "Sogeking!"

"Eh?" Nami gasped in surprise, "He's flying!"

"What's he been doing all this time?" Sanji questioned.

"I wonder if he can land safely?" Zoro asked, foreshadowing what was to come.

There was a loud crash as the masked man slammed into the roof ungracefully while Chopper yelled in concern. "Oho," Kaku commented idly, "one after another."

"Well, they sure know how to make a memorable entrance." Naruto stated while Spandam's jaw hung open and his eyes bulged out of his skull.

"I beg of you Robin!" Luffy screamed, "I don't care what you want, whether you choose to live or die! But, whatever you say—say it while you're with us!"

"That's right Robin!"

"Robin, come back!"

The girl bit her lower lip as her eyes began to water.

"Now," Luffy shouted resolutely while standing on a parapet of the roof with his crew beside him, "leave everything to us!" Robin took a hesitant step backwards in shock.

"They came here by going through the Aqua Laguna." Kalifa pointed out while adjusting her glasses, "That's amazing if you think about it."

"Yeah," Jabra added, "they have good luck, don't they?"

"I don't think it was as much a matter of luck," Naruto countered, " as it was a matter of resolve. It takes guts to come all the way to Enies Lobby for a crewmember."

"Now we have the permission to kill." Lucci stated, changing the topic.

"Perfect." Kaku replied, "It'll be easier to take care of them if we don't have to hold back."

"So many pirates have come!" Spandam shouted with his jaw agape.

"Hey!" Franky called out as he pulled himself up from the ground after noticing the distressed look on Robin's face, "Yo! That's enough!" "_This woman—how much of a burden is she bearing?"_

"Robin..." Nami stated softly in concern.

"CP9." Spandam called out, "Listen guys, I'll give you permission to wipe 'em out, but take them down at the Tower of Justice! It's not like they could get up here to begin with!" Spandam turned to face the Straw Hats with his arms out wide, "Wahahahaha! You idiot pirates! Do you realize that no matter how brave you are, nothing would ever change! We have the full strength of an assassin group, CP9! We have the heavy Gates of Justice that human power cannot open! Moreover," Spandam pulled out a golden DenDen Mushi and presented it proudly, "now I have the authority to trigger the Buster Call!"

Robin gasped in fear when she recognized the dreaded attack that had destroyed her home and everything that she had held dear as a child.

"That's right. Exactly twenty years ago. It's the power that obliterated your hometown! The word 'Ohara' disappeared from the map, didn't it?"

"Robin's hometown?!" Chopper said in surprise.

"Shitty mask. I wanna kick him down into the waterfall right now!" Sanji yelled in rage.

Luffy stared on sadly as he remembered Robin's words. "_I don't have anywhere to go, nor anywhere to return to."_

"Stop it!" Robin screamed in desperation, "Don't do that!"

"Ooooh, I like that response, it's very thrilling." Spandam taunted, "What? Does that mean I **should** press the trigger?"

"Do you even know what will happen when you press it?!" She shrieked.

"Robin..." Sanji muttered.

"Of course, " Spandam replied, "I know it very well! The chances of you pirates getting off this island will be zero! By just a push of a button on this golden DenDen Mushi! What? Did you have something else in mind? Wahahaha!" Spandam stood before her and began to dramatically lower his extended finger towards the button.

"It's not that simple! Stop it!" Robin screamed causing Spandam to freeze, "Can you see any humans on that map? You could only be so cruel because you look at the world like that!" "_The buster call is a merciless power that makes you lose sight of your purpose!" _She thought, "_You can use that. Not that."_

"If you ask for the Buster Call now," she explained calmly, "you'll be blown up, too. Along with Enies Lobby!"

"Don't be stupid!" Spandam yelled back, "How could we be blown up by our own allies' attack?! What're you talking about?!"

"Twenty years ago, just one attack took everything from me—as well as ruining the lives of many people! That, is the Buster Call. That attack, is now aimed at the dear nakamathat I've finally found. The more I wish to be with you, the more my fate will bare its fangs at you!" She called out to her comrades, "No matter what sea I go to, I have this great fate that I can't shake! 'Cause my enemy is the world, and—its darkness!"

"First the incident with Aokiji and now this! I've gotten you involved twice already! If this goes on forever even good-natured people like you will eventually consider me a burden! In time, you'll betray and jilt me! That's what I'm most afraid of! That's why I didn't want you to come and save me! If it's a life that I'll eventually lose—I want to just die! Right here, right now!"

Chopper grit his teeth while Sanji grimaced, Sogeking, Nami, and Luffy stared on silently while Zoro muttered, "So that's how it is..." under his breath.

"Wahahaha!" Spandam laughed, spitting on everything the girl had just laid bare, "I see, so that's true!" Naruto silently glared at Spandam while vowing to kill the man if he ever got the chance, "Of course! No one could think you're not a burden with all your problems! Wahahaha!" Spandam pointed up at the flag waving atop the tower, "Look at that symbol pirates! That mark represents that unity of over one-hundred and seventy nations in the four seas and the Grand Line! This, is the world! Do you understand how insignificant you are compared to this?! Do you comprehend how impossible it is for you to stand against us?! Do you understand how big of an organization was after her?!"

"I understand Robin's enemy very well!" Luffy called out before turning to Sogeking, "Sogeking—"

"Hrm?" the masked man replied.

"Shoot that flag."

"Roger!" The man grabbed a pachinko ball from his pouch and loaded it before pulling back on his staff-sized slingshot, "New weapon: the great slingshot called 'Kabuto!' Carefully observe its power!"

"Ultimate 'Firebird Star!'" He released his shot sending a massive bird of flame soaring towards the flag on top of the building. The flag lit and began to burn.

Spandam's jaw dropped in horrified surprise as his eyes threatened to pop out of his skull. Naruto merely smirked.

"Pirates have declared war on the World Government!" Spandam screamed once he broke out of his stupor, "Are you bastards insane?! Don't you even dare to dream that you'll survive with the world as your enemy!"

"I'd be happy to live with that!" Luffy yelled at the top of his lungs resolutely.

He didn't care that he had just made the world his enemy. He didn't care that what he had just done was unheard of. He didn't care about the consequences. They had taken one of his nakama from him, and all he cared about was getting her back.

Nami began to cry as Luffy called out once more, "Robin! I haven't heard it from you yeet! Say you wanna live!"

"Robin!" Chopper urged as Sanji smirked beside him. Nami followed suit as Zoro stood resolutely.

"_Live?"_ she thought in shock as even more tears ran down her face, "_I thought it was something I couldn't wish for—nobody, has ever allowed me that. If I can really—declare my wish—I—" _"I wanna live!" she cried out as she wept unabashedly, "Take me with you—to the ocean!"

"I love you guys, damn it!" Franky yelled while wiping tears from his eyes as they comically poured down his face."

There was a loud boom as the mechanism for the drawbridge finally began working and it started to lower. "The drawbridge is lowering!" Chopper called out, stating the obvious.

"I guess they've done their job well." Sanji stated with a smirk on his face and a cigarette held between his teeth.

"I-I'm trembling from the excitement—" Sogeking said, not fooling anyone.

"Hurry up and lower it." Zoro commanded with an evil grin on his face as he prepared to draw one of his swords.

"Gyaah! Don't come!" Spandam screamed while Lucci grinned with bloodlust.

"Here we go!" Luffy yelled excitedly while cracking his knuckles as he and his crew readied for the coming battles.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And there you have it. Sorry if there were any typos, but I've been busy lately and I didn't have the time to proofread this as much as I would've liked. As always, any and all constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated.<br>**


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto and the rest of CP9 watched as the drawbridge leading to the Tower of Justice lowered. Suddenly, a large explosion occurred at the base of the bridge causing it to come to a halt.

"Damn it!" Luffy swore in frustration, "Who's getting in our way?!"

'G-Good Job!" Spandam called out as snot ran from his nose, still shocked by how far the pirates had come, "Now, before they come over here, I'll head to the Gates of Justice! Come on!" Spandam shouted at Robin before grabbing her by the hair and dragging her away roughly, "Somebody grab Cutty Flam!"

Naruto glanced over while Spandam began to give another speech to notice that Franky had positioned himself right in Spandam's way. Spandam turned to walk away and let out a shout of surprise when he saw the stony faced cyborg in front of him. Franky reached into a hidden compartment on his body and pulled out a stack of papers with the word "Pluton" printed on them in all caps

"Hm?" There was a blank look on Spandam's face before the realization dawned on him, "That's—you mean—no way! Are those the blueprints of the ancient weapon, Pluton?!" he screeched.

"It's real." Franky said with a smirk on his face, "Do you believe me?" Franky opened the blueprints so that Lucci and Kaku could see them before quickly flipping through the pages, "Lucci, Kaku, you can tell, can't you?"

Lucci's eyes widened in shock as Kaku reacted similarly, "I doubted it, but—you were hiding it in your body, weren't you?"  
>"I-Is it real?" Spandam questioned with a large grin on his face, "It's real?! G-Give it to me!" he demanded.<p>

"_What the hell are you doing, you idiot! If he gets his hands on those blueprints—"_ Naruto grimaced as he realized just what Spandam would do if he managed to get his hands on power like that, "_Fuck subtlety," _Naruto thought as his hand drifted to the katana at his side, "_if he gets the blueprints to Pluton, we're all screwed. Now, if I could manage to grab those blueprints and get that blue haired idiot and Nico Robin across the chasm before—"_

Naruto's train of thought derailed as he noticed Franky burning the blueprints to the ancient weapon, "_...Well, that solves that problem. I honestly didn't expect that."_

"You bastard!" Spandam screamed as he desperately clutched at the burning fragments of the blueprints, "What the heck did you do?! Damn it, I'll kill you!"

"He just destroyed the target of our five-year mission—" Kalifa stated frostily while Kaku's mouth hung open in surprise.

"The blueprints left to create the 'Opposing Force' were sought by the government! They should only exist secretly, and should've been destroyed when they were discovered! But now, we have no force to oppose 'the weapon' if Nico Robin falls into your hands, we're doomed!" A large grin began form on Franky's face, "But if the Straw Hats win, you'll have nothing left! So I'll place my bets on them!"

"What an idiot!" Spandam growled in murderous rage, " I guess you want to die here too, huh?!"

Franky was distracted by his crew as Spandam snuck behind him and shoved him off the balcony, "How dare you ruin my blueprints!" Spandam screamed in fury as Franky tumbled into the chasm.

"The hell?!" Naruto shouted, "Spandam what the fuck are you thinking?! Don't you realize he might have memorized the blueprints?!"

"Wha?" Spandam questioned as he turned to face the blond while processing what he had said, "Shit!" he screamed once the blond's words clicked, "Quick! Save him!"

Naruto prepared to leap over the balcony after Franky in an attempt to save him, but immediately halted when a sea train barreled through the gate and used the drawbridge as a ramp. "Th-They've come!" Spandam shrieked in fear as Franky latched onto the front of the train before it smashed into the Tower of Justice, bringing the Straw Hats with it.

Still in shock, Spandam leaned over the balcony and saw dust lazily drifting out of the massive hole the train created when it slammed into the building. Spandam stepped back from the balcony with his jaw hanging wide open as his eyes bulged out of his skull, "They came." He mumbled softly to himself. He stood there for a moment, staring blankly off into space, before finally coming back to his senses, "They came!" He shrieked while roughly grabbing Robin and leading her away, "Damn it! You, come with me!"

Robin grimaced in pain slightly at her rough handling before Spandam turned and addressed the rest of CP9, "Now, I'll let you do whatever you like! Crush them here! Lucci, Naruto, come with me! Whatever you do, protecting my life is your first priority! Aside from that, do whatever you think is necessary! Butcher them, Slaughter them, I don't care! Just get rid of them!"

"Funkfreed!" Spandam called out, the elephant responded with a loud cry as it raced towards him and changed into its sword form. "All right, good boy." Spandam praised as he caught the hilt of the blade with his hand before sheathing it over his shoulder as Naruto and Lucci trailed silently behind him. "Now, let's head for the Gates of Justice! I dare you to try and take this woman back, Straw Hat!"

The group headed down to the ground floor of the tower before entering a hidden staircase and going underground. During the entire trip Spandam was laughing maniacally with uncontrolled abandon while spouting things like, "They won't find us!" or "They can't follow us!" ad nauseam.

It was enough to make Naruto want to kill him then and there.

As they came to the bottom of the staircase they found a large door made out of hardened steel that was designed to be impregnable. A control panel with a keyhole was stationed at its side and was the only way to open the door, without breaking it down, from that side.

Spandam handed Naruto the key and he proceeded to unlock the door causing it to split down the middle and slowly slide into the wall. The rest of the group crossed the threshold as Naruto removed the key and faked storing it within his pocket before setting it on top of the control panel and following suit. As he passed, he sent a sly wink to the little girl that had been hiding at the top of the stairs before activating the lever on the other side causing the massive door to slide closed. As Naruto and the rest of the unwitting group continued onward the little girl dashed out of the room to find one of the Straw Hats.

_"Hopefully one of them can catch up to us before we reach the prop,"_ Naruto thought, "if_ not, I'll have to take matters into my own hands."_

* * *

><p>Time passed uneventfully until Naruto and the others reached a large underground room at the base of the prop for the Bridge of Hesitation.<p>

_"Well, I guess it's time to intervene."_

As they entered the room Naruto paused to scratch his ankle placing him behind Lucci and the others. A sly smirk graced the his features as he began silently sprinting towards Lucci, leaping into the air, Naruto planted a flying kick into Lucci's back sending the unsuspecting assassin flying.

At the sound of impact Spandam spun around and took in what was happening, "Naruto wha—" he was cut off by a fist to the face and was sent flying into a wall.

"Get out of here now!" Naruto urged Robin desperately while shoving her back the way they had come, his gesture punctuated by Luffy screaming her name from down the hall. Robin nodded before heading off towards Luffy, "Meet up with your crew, get those handcuffs off and then find some way to get back across that chasm!" he called over his shoulder as he watched Lucci get back on his feet. The man's only response to being kicked in the back was a cool smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Spandam's reaction was more—violent.

"Naruto!" he roared in absolute fury, "What the hell are you doing?!"

"It's pretty obvious, I'm stabbing you in the back. You make me sick and I'm tired of working for you, so you can consider this my resignation."

"Y-You traitor!" Spandam ground out, "Funkfreed!" At its masters call the elephant sword leapt out of its sheath before charging the traitor. As it neared its trunk transformed into a blade that threatened to gore Naruto if he didn't react.

The blond casually stepped around the blade before grabbing hold of the elephant's tusks and pivoted before sending it flying straight into a wall. The entire structure shuddered at the impact as the elephant landed roughly on the ground completely unconscious, "You're going to have to do better than that to stop me, Spandam." Naruto commented in a bored tone while brushing dust off his suit. Spandam's mouth hung open as he began backpedaling away from Naruto. He planted his back firmly against the wall while shaking in fear, "L-Lucci!" he begged, "Do something!"

Lucci's smirk grew into a full-blown grin as he stepped forward, "I've been waiting a long time for this, Naruto."

"Yeah, well, I have too." Naruto cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders before removing the scabbard from his side and holding it in his left hand, "It's about damn time someone knocked some sense into you. You may have been the strongest before, Lucci, but I've changed."

"I noticed."

* * *

><p>"Robin!" Luffy called out as he saw the raven haired girl running towards him, "What happened to the pigeon guy?!"<p>

"One of the other members of CP9 is taking care of him."

"Wha?! No fair!" Luffy screamed in indignation before preparing to dash off and punish the one who had stolen his fight.

"Luffy!" Robin shouted bringing him back to his senses, "We don't have time for this, our top priority is getting these off!" she stated while holding her bound hands up for emphasis.

Luffy glanced back at her before getting a serious look in his eyes and nodding in reply. The pair began to run back down the hallway to find the key to Robin's freedom.

* * *

><p>"Soru." Naruto intoned as he blurred away at high-speed. In one swift motion he drew his sword from its sheath and swung it, aiming for Lucci's neck. The assassin ducked underneath the blow, causing his hat to be cut in half, before dropping to his hands and launching a Rankyaku strike at Naruto.<p>

The blond activated Geppo at the last second and redirected himself in midair to avoid the blow before using it once more to dash towards Lucci. The blond lunged with his sword but the black-haired man danced out of the way before swinging his fist at Naruto's head.

Naruto blocked the blow with his scabbard and swung his katana in retaliation, but Lucci leapt backwards to cleanly avoid the blow.

He slid to a stop before rising to his full height, "Tobu Shigan: 'Bachi'(Flying Finger Gun: 'Plectrum)" Lucci's arms blurred as he launched a barrage of compressed air bullets at Naruto. The blond took off, his body becoming nothing more than a blur as he managed to stay one step ahead of Lucci's attacks.

He circled around the other assassin, slowly but steadily reducing the distance between himself and Lucci. Realizing what Naruto was doing, Lucci halted his barrage and charged Naruto. In response, Naruto sheathed his blade before flickering towards Lucci. He lashed out with his fist, but Naruto seemingly disappeared before reappearing behind Lucci, his hand on the hilt of his katana.

Blood spurted from a shallow cut that stretched from Lucci's right hip to his left shoulder. Lucci's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, before he turned to face Naruto with a blood-thirsty grin on his face. "You're right, you have gotten better." Lucci stated gleefully.

"So have you." Naruto replied with a stoic expression on his face, "A few years ago, an attack like that would have cut you in half." Lucci's grin grew even wider as Naruto dropped into a three-point sprinter's stance.

"Soru: Onsoku (Shave: Subsonic)" The ground cratered beneath Naruto's feet as he rocketed forward just under the speed of sound as he slammed his hilt into Lucci's gut. Lucci's mouth gaped open, the air forced out of his lungs as he was lifted off the ground by Naruto's blow.

The assassin was launched up into the air as Naruto blurred away once more, appearing above him with his leg raised. Naruto brought his leg down, sending Lucci straight into the ground. The stone cratered beneath his body as the assassin hacked up a glob of phlegm and blood, completely stunned by the speed the blond was exhibiting. Naruto kicked off of the air and shot towards Lucci with his hand on the hilt of his blade.

Lucci managed to roll out of the way at the last second as Naruto swung his sword, easily slicing through the stone beneath him. As Naruto sheathed his blade, Lucci transformed into his full leopard form and sprang towards Naruto. The blond reacted quickly and spun, slamming the hilt of his sword into the side of Lucci's head. There was a loud crack as the assassin was sent spinning off to the side before twisting in midair and landing on his feet. Lucci skidded across the ground before coming to a stop and charging Naruto once more.

Lucci leapt into the air to attack, but Naruto grabbed him by the throat before turning and slamming him into the ground. Naruto leapt back to avoid being torn to shreds as he struck with his hind legs. Given some space, Lucci transformed into his half-leopard form before using Seimei Kikan: Kami-e Bushin(Life Return: Paper Drawing Fighting Form) causing his hulking form to slim and become more agile. Both combatants took advantage of the momentary lull in battle to quickly catch their breath.

The momentary ceasefire was broken by Naruto as he slashed twice with his sword, launching two blades of compressed air at his former comrade. Lucci countered the attack by slashing with his claws, launching two similar blades of compressed air.

Naruto quickly fell into a sprinter's stance once more before activating Soru: Onsoku again. Almost immediately, Naruto reappeared before Lucci and lashed out at his legs with a kick, hoping to sweep them. Lucci leapt over the kick and stabbed downwards with both hands, launching a large bullet of compressed air at Naruto.

The blond flickered out of the way once more and appeared above Lucci before attacking with a drop kick. Lucci blocked the attack with one hand before pulling his right arm back with two fingers extended, "Shigan 'Oren.'" Lucci unleashed a flurry of Shigan strikes that pierced Naruto repeatedly sending blood flying everywhere. The blond roared in pain as Lucci flipped in midair and slammed him into the ground. The assassin landed on top of Naruto but was kicked off almost immediately by the blond. Naruto hopped back to his feet and glared at Lucci with narrowed eyes.

"Your Doriki may be higher, but without a Devil Fruit you don't stand a chance against me."

"Oh really?" Naruto replied mockingly, "Well, it's a good thing I ate one then." Lucci's eyes widened in surprise as Naruto discarded his blade as his tall figure grew even taller as he transformed into his half-dragon form. Wings sprouted from his back as his hands turned into claws and a tail extended from the end of his spine. Blue electricity sparked across his scaly skin as his ice blue eyes stared at Lucci, "And it seems as though mine is a bit better than yours."

Naruto launched a bolt of electricity from his palm forcing Lucci to leap out of the way. The wings on his back spread open as he disappeared from sight and reappeared directly in front of Lucci. Lucci slashed him with his claws, but Naruto shrugged off the attack like it was nothing before planting his fist directly into Lucci's face. There was a sickening crack as the man's jaw was fractured before he was sent flying across the room. Naruto launched another bolt of lightning that connected and sent a surge of electricity coursing through Lucci's body.

As their battle raged on, Spandam huddled against the wall behind some crates before pushing the button on the golden Den Den Mushi, the Buster Call had been activated.

* * *

><p>"There's no way back!" Luffy screamed frustratedly as they stared across the chasm that separated the Tower of Justice from the rest of Enies Lobby.<p>

"Then we'll just have to head back the other way and find some other way off the island." Nami stated calmly.

Luffy let out a huff of aggravation before heading back into the building, Robin, now freed from her handcuffs, smiled at her captain's antics.

* * *

><p>"This has gone on long enough," Naruto pointed out as he caught Lucci's fist in his palm easily, "Goodbye, Lucci." Naruto's jaw lowered, revealing his lengthened canine teeth, as a blinding light began to well up from the back of his throat, "Ryū no hōkō(Roar of the Dragon)." A bright beam of pure lightning burst forth from the blond's mouth, hitting Lucci at point-blank range.<p>

Lucci was sent flying back as Naruto released his hold on the man and he slammed into the wall before falling to the ground completely unconscious. There was a small "Eep!" that Naruto's enhanced hearing immediately picked up and he turned to glare in Spandam's general direction.

"I know you're still here Spandam, come out, and I might just go easy on you."

There was no reply.

"Fair enough, I'll just have to find you then." Naruto sniffed the air once before pinpointing Spandam's location and dashed towards his former boss. Spandam tried to scream, but it came out as a strangled gurgle as Naruto lifted him by his neck in a vice-like grip. "See? Told you I'd find you." Naruto tossed the man across the room sending him tumbling along the floor.

"N-Naruto, l-let's be r-reasonable!" Spandam begged as he scrambled away from the blond.

"The time for reason has long since passed, Spandam." Naruto stated murderously as he slowly stalked towards the frightened man, "Were you reasonable when you crushed anyone who stood in your way, even when they were innocent? Would you have been reasonable if you'd ever actually gotten the power you so desperately wanted?"

Spandam merely shivered in fear with his back against the wall.

"No?" Naruto asked with a predatory grin on his face, "That's what I thought. I've been waiting for this moment for a long time, when someone could finally put you in your place." Spandam was lifted into the air as Naruto grabbed hold of his shirt and slammed him against the wall, "You never earned anything, all you ever did was ride on the coattails of your father. And you were so obsessed with getting a promotion that you were willing to do anything, kill anyone, to get it. You never thought of your subordinates as people, they were just tools for you to take advantage of, and the second they were no longer useful, you just threw them away like the trash you thought they were. All in the name of getting a promotion. In your mad lust for power, you lost sight of your humanity, not that you ever had any to begin with."

Naruto let go of Spandam before kneeing him savagely in the gut, "This is for all the atrocities you've committed!" Stars exploded in Spandam's vision as Naruto's fist broke his nose, "This is for all the people you've stepped on! And this—" Naruto screamed as his fist sparked with electricity, "is for the shame that you brought to the Marines and the World Government!" His fist slammed into Spandam's uncovered cheek, shattering the portion of his face that had remained uninjured. The back of Spandam's skull slammed into the wall with resounding crack as he slumped to the floor.

He laid on the ground, twitching unconsciously in pain, as Naruto glared at him with a look of utter disgust, "The world would be better off without people like you."

And that, was when the Straw Hats stormed into the room.


End file.
